That night at Wolf Creek pass the air was nearly perfectly transparent. Even sighting along the barrel of the laser pointer, the beam was barely visible - not even bright enough to use as an aiming tool, at least for me. This weekend I had some fun with it in Yellowstone. We stayed up late to watch Grand Geyser. While returning to our car around 10:30, I played with the laser in the steam of a couple hot springs and small geysers. The "show" was kind of fun. My dogs also love to chase my red pointer. (I don't use the green ponter in the house.) Small minds, simple pleasures... -----Original Message----- From: Chuck Hards [mailto:chuckhards@yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, August 11, 2003 10:04 AM To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] Green laser backlash --- Kim Hyatt <khyatt@smithlayton.com> wrote:

While I tried to use the laser at Wolf Creek, the air was so clear that the laser was absolutely useless.

Used as a pointer, this can be a problem (what a problem- perfect transparancy!), but I've noticed that even in very clear air, the beam can be seen if your line-of-sight is almost co-axial with it, so it still may work as a "finder" mounted on a telescope. I've used a red one this way (before abandoning it as a step backwards). For a real show, take out your laser this winter, during a snowstorm. They are also great fun annoying stray cats, who can't catch that dot no matter how hard they try! C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy