Re: ATM Artificial Star Idea?

[Aplanatic@aol.com]

Nils Olof wrote:

> The diode is for all reasonable purposes 
> point-like, and very bright - and
> ought to be a fine, red artificial star as is 

Thanks, Nils Olof!  That sounds like an excellent light source for an artificial star.  I'm off to pick one up...  Your suggestion to use larger batteries is a good one.  An alkaline D-cell has about 10 amp-hours at a drain of 10 mA.  At your measured current, should last a few hundred hours.

With that large of a divergence, I wonder how bright it will appear a hundred meters away.  It would be nice if it were bright enough to test an uncoated mirror.  I guess I'll just have to do the experiment.  Perhaps a converging lens of the right shape and placement would kill the residual spherical aberration?  A good subject for a rainy day....

Thanks also, James, for suggesting it.

Dave Rowe