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Re: Paint the Moon

The overall task may not be plausible, but this part of it is rather
simple. If one locks the pointer in a meter-long piece of nominal 3/4" PVC
so that the "button" stays depressed, there is room to sight past the
pointer through the tube. By sighting the opposite wall and then the side
of the barn, one can get the pointer and the pipe collimated. Then sighting
the moon through the tube with both eyes open lets one steady the tube on
the region of interest. I'll try this on the neighbor's barn tonight.

Tom Ford

At 01:13 PM 10/25/01 -0400, you wrote:
It seems to me that a major problem with the idea (other than the
other major problems of beam spreading and low total luminosity) is
that hand held laser pointers do not come equipped with a sighting
scope so they cannot be properly aimed at a target of small subtended
angle without relying on the person holding it looking at the
reflected beam spot to provide the necessary visual feedback so an
accurate pointing can be converged on.

David Bowman