Re: Cat's eyes

[Leigh Palmer <palmer@SFU.CA>]

> I tried something similar that may be even more convincing.  I put on a
> pair of sunglasses.  I still saw the cat's eyes glowing but they were
> much dimmer than before I put on the glasses.

Try pinholes. Note that if the cat is focussed on your eye, the image of
your pupil is located at your pupil after two refractions and a reflection
between them, as John Denker's model correctly predicts. A pinhole in a
black sheet should suppress the reflection almost completely. Even a small
hole which prevents you seeing both cat and light source simultaneously
should supress the reflection. You might also try a small (~2 mm) hole in
a white paper. If cats have saccades (which they almost certainly have)
you may observe flashing reflections.

How do you persuade your cat to participate in these experiments?

Leigh