![]() Sadly, the mods had to remove it because GLPs are a touchy subject, and any mods which could in any way pose a danger is something they remove as a matter of policy. I posted this topic over on Cloudy Nights, the major US astronomy geek forum. It's crazy the first time you see it.) So, dark adaptation for astronomy is quite sensitive! Many actually prefer blue laser pointers which aren't as bright, but in many cases still too bright. Rather than looking directly at a deep space object, you look a little off to the side and you'll see more detail. Basically, you can detect greater differences in faint light with the rods of your eyes, which are I think more towards the periphery of your vision. (I'd link you to some reading, but I don't have the 10 posts necessary yet. ![]() ![]() Understand, though, when we're searching for faint galaxies, globular clusters, nebulae, and other things that are barely visible, we're not even using the cones in our eyes, but the rods through a technique known as averted vision. Your eyes won't ever get there in suburban light pollution, so for purposes of spotting in my front yard, you're absolutely right that the brief flash of laser won't be too bad. In general, we try to push our pupils as close to 7mm (or some people go even wider), which takes about 30 minutes in PROPERLY DARK skies. ![]() It's true the laser won't be on for too terribly long, but even 30 seconds to a minute can be enough to "ruin" dark adaptation. Hazkaw1 – Right on, I'll get to work on that, thanks for the welcome. Any idea whether that laser you posted has IR filtration? A quick glance doesn't show, but I probably need to look around a bit more closely. That said, anecdotal evidence shows that lesser GLPs can definitely suffer for our purposes in the cold. ArcticDude – Very cool, this gives me something to look into. ![]()
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