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I get the same thing, but only from my new glasses which have an
anti-reflective coating. I when I hold the glasses at a certain angle
and view a flor. bulb the reflection is distinctly green. When washing
the glasses a water film turns the reflection purple. I assumed that
this was some sort of thin film interference, but I would be curious
about the details.
Scott
PS Your cat may not appreciate the second experiment ;-)
Date: Sat, 2 Sep 2000 23:29:38 -0400
From: Ludwik Kowalski <KowalskiL@MAIL.MONTCLAIR.EDU>
Subject: Cat's eyes
A very strange observation (9/2/2000, 10 p.m.).
The lights are off in our living room. But the door to
the kitched is open and the light there is on. I am
standing in the living room and the kitchen door
is on my right side. I am looking at our cat who is also
looking on me. His eyes are shining like two little light
bulbs. A strange green fluorescent-like light. The cat
is directly in front of me, about 15 feet away (in the
semi-dark room).
So far nothing strange, I have seen shining cat's eyes
before. But this time I noticed something very strange
and highly reproducible. The moment I place my hand
between the kitchen light fixture and ny eyes the cat's
eyes stop shining. I lower the hand and they shine again.
The fixture, which is about ten feet on my right side,
consists of five 60W light bulbs each surrounded by a
common white scattering sphere. It is at ~90 degrees
with respect to the direction of my looking.
There is enough of scattered light in the living room
(coming only from the kitchen) to see the body of the
cat. But his eyes are shining only when there is nothing
between my eyes and the kitchen light fixture. The
impression is that light from the kitchen is somehow
"reflected" from my eyes toward the cat and causes
them to shine. Why do I see the shining cats eyes only
when my eyes are sidewise illuminated by the kitchen
light?
By the way, my exact position, or exact orientation,
do not seem to be critical; moving forward or
backward (or left and right) by one foot did not make
any difference. I asked my daughter, who is 22, and
she confirmed the observation. Can somebody
confirm it on another cat? Is there a well known
simple explanation of what happens? I am puzzled.
Ludwik Kowalski
--
*****************************
Scott Goelzer
Physics Teacher
Coe-Brown Northwood Academy
Northwood NH 03261
sgoelzer@coebrownacademy.com
*****************************