Has anyone in space seen or photographed a simple laser pointer from Earth?Was there once a semi-serious space-art project planning to use solar reflectors to put a spot of light on the crescent Moon?Can Astronauts really see firework displays from space?What is the highest frequency at which Earth is, or has been, observed from space?Why doesn't Rayleigh Scattering obstruct Earth from space?Are there ANY verified satellite images of visible light coherent backscattering from Earth?Has anyone seen an actual spectrum of a satellite made by an amateur photographer?Is this the only eclipse where Moon's shadow on the Earth (umbra) has been photographed by a person in space?Has the Moon's shadow on the Earth (solar eclipse umbra) ever been photographed from beyond Earth orbit?What caused this bright light from the ground at night seen from the ISS?Has a lander/rover ever examined or photographed another mission?What is this huge, red, blinking light structure on Earth seen from the ISS in this video?Why does the Earth's atmosphere as seen from space have the colors that it does?
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Has anyone in space seen or photographed a simple laser pointer from Earth?
Was there once a semi-serious space-art project planning to use solar reflectors to put a spot of light on the crescent Moon?Can Astronauts really see firework displays from space?What is the highest frequency at which Earth is, or has been, observed from space?Why doesn't Rayleigh Scattering obstruct Earth from space?Are there ANY verified satellite images of visible light coherent backscattering from Earth?Has anyone seen an actual spectrum of a satellite made by an amateur photographer?Is this the only eclipse where Moon's shadow on the Earth (umbra) has been photographed by a person in space?Has the Moon's shadow on the Earth (solar eclipse umbra) ever been photographed from beyond Earth orbit?What caused this bright light from the ground at night seen from the ISS?Has a lander/rover ever examined or photographed another mission?What is this huge, red, blinking light structure on Earth seen from the ISS in this video?Why does the Earth's atmosphere as seen from space have the colors that it does?
.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;
$begingroup$
In the question How to make a green LED as visually bright as a 0 magnitude star? I worked out that a 100 mA green LED with a 10° half-angle 18 kilometers away would be as bright as a 0th magnitude star. So a 5 mW laser pointer with a miliradian divergence could potentially be seen even farther away, or at least photographed.
Question: Has anyone in space seen or photographed a laser pointer from Earth?
Note I'm asking about a laser pointer, not some high-powered laser used to bounce off of the Moon, or a powerful searchlight. Something that you can hold in your hand.
photography earth-observation
asked Jul 9 at 16:53
uhohuhoh
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
In the question How to make a green LED as visually bright as a 0 magnitude star? I worked out that a 100 mA green LED with a 10° half-angle 18 kilometers away would be as bright as a 0th magnitude star. So a 5 mW laser pointer with a miliradian divergence could potentially be seen even farther away, or at least photographed.
Question: Has anyone in space seen or photographed a laser pointer from Earth?
Note I'm asking about a laser pointer, not some high-powered laser used to bounce off of the Moon, or a powerful searchlight. Something that you can hold in your hand.
photography earth-observation
asked Jul 9 at 16:53
uhohuhoh
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
pbs.twimg.com/media/AocWtTtCMAEjFpt.jpg:large was the one I was talking about he mentioned in his talk, they also pointed a searchlight at the ISS. I believe, but don't quote me on this, that the laser pointer was seen while the spotlight was not. This is a picture from the ground, probably a short exposure (seeing the trail on the ISS). This was not an official experiment, rather one he set up with a friend himself. Here's the tweet: twitter.com/astro_Pettit/status/182139277566685184
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 17:21
1
$begingroup$
Also, the one Tristan mentioned, here's the tweet for that one yes, the blue dot is the light-source :).
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 17:23
$begingroup$
@MagicOctopusUrn These would be great posted in an answer, just copy/paste!
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 9 at 17:24
6
$begingroup$
somewhat related: what-if.xkcd.com/13
$endgroup$
– Baldrickk
Jul 10 at 13:20
$begingroup$
@Baldrickk speaking of shining light on the Moon: Was there once a semi-serious space-art project planning to use solar reflectors to put a spot of light on the crescent Moon?
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 10 at 13:24
add a comment |
$begingroup$
In the question How to make a green LED as visually bright as a 0 magnitude star? I worked out that a 100 mA green LED with a 10° half-angle 18 kilometers away would be as bright as a 0th magnitude star. So a 5 mW laser pointer with a miliradian divergence could potentially be seen even farther away, or at least photographed.
Question: Has anyone in space seen or photographed a laser pointer from Earth?
Note I'm asking about a laser pointer, not some high-powered laser used to bounce off of the Moon, or a powerful searchlight. Something that you can hold in your hand.
photography earth-observation
asked Jul 9 at 16:53
uhohuhoh
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
$endgroup$
In the question How to make a green LED as visually bright as a 0 magnitude star? I worked out that a 100 mA green LED with a 10° half-angle 18 kilometers away would be as bright as a 0th magnitude star. So a 5 mW laser pointer with a miliradian divergence could potentially be seen even farther away, or at least photographed.
Question: Has anyone in space seen or photographed a laser pointer from Earth?
Note I'm asking about a laser pointer, not some high-powered laser used to bounce off of the Moon, or a powerful searchlight. Something that you can hold in your hand.
photography earth-observation
photography earth-observation
asked Jul 9 at 16:53
uhohuhoh
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
asked Jul 9 at 16:53
uhohuhoh
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
edited Jul 10 at 0:57
uhoh
asked Jul 9 at 16:53
uhohuhoh
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
asked Jul 9 at 16:53
uhohuhoh
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
asked Jul 9 at 16:53
uhohuhoh
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
1
$begingroup$
pbs.twimg.com/media/AocWtTtCMAEjFpt.jpg:large was the one I was talking about he mentioned in his talk, they also pointed a searchlight at the ISS. I believe, but don't quote me on this, that the laser pointer was seen while the spotlight was not. This is a picture from the ground, probably a short exposure (seeing the trail on the ISS). This was not an official experiment, rather one he set up with a friend himself. Here's the tweet: twitter.com/astro_Pettit/status/182139277566685184
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 17:21
1
$begingroup$
Also, the one Tristan mentioned, here's the tweet for that one yes, the blue dot is the light-source :).
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 17:23
$begingroup$
@MagicOctopusUrn These would be great posted in an answer, just copy/paste!
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 9 at 17:24
6
$begingroup$
somewhat related: what-if.xkcd.com/13
$endgroup$
– Baldrickk
Jul 10 at 13:20
$begingroup$
@Baldrickk speaking of shining light on the Moon: Was there once a semi-serious space-art project planning to use solar reflectors to put a spot of light on the crescent Moon?
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 10 at 13:24
add a comment |
1
$begingroup$
pbs.twimg.com/media/AocWtTtCMAEjFpt.jpg:large was the one I was talking about he mentioned in his talk, they also pointed a searchlight at the ISS. I believe, but don't quote me on this, that the laser pointer was seen while the spotlight was not. This is a picture from the ground, probably a short exposure (seeing the trail on the ISS). This was not an official experiment, rather one he set up with a friend himself. Here's the tweet: twitter.com/astro_Pettit/status/182139277566685184
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 17:21
1
$begingroup$
Also, the one Tristan mentioned, here's the tweet for that one yes, the blue dot is the light-source :).
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 17:23
$begingroup$
@MagicOctopusUrn These would be great posted in an answer, just copy/paste!
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 9 at 17:24
6
$begingroup$
somewhat related: what-if.xkcd.com/13
$endgroup$
– Baldrickk
Jul 10 at 13:20
$begingroup$
@Baldrickk speaking of shining light on the Moon: Was there once a semi-serious space-art project planning to use solar reflectors to put a spot of light on the crescent Moon?
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 10 at 13:24
1
1
$begingroup$
pbs.twimg.com/media/AocWtTtCMAEjFpt.jpg:large was the one I was talking about he mentioned in his talk, they also pointed a searchlight at the ISS. I believe, but don't quote me on this, that the laser pointer was seen while the spotlight was not. This is a picture from the ground, probably a short exposure (seeing the trail on the ISS). This was not an official experiment, rather one he set up with a friend himself. Here's the tweet: twitter.com/astro_Pettit/status/182139277566685184
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 17:21
$begingroup$
pbs.twimg.com/media/AocWtTtCMAEjFpt.jpg:large was the one I was talking about he mentioned in his talk, they also pointed a searchlight at the ISS. I believe, but don't quote me on this, that the laser pointer was seen while the spotlight was not. This is a picture from the ground, probably a short exposure (seeing the trail on the ISS). This was not an official experiment, rather one he set up with a friend himself. Here's the tweet: twitter.com/astro_Pettit/status/182139277566685184
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 17:21
1
1
$begingroup$
Also, the one Tristan mentioned, here's the tweet for that one yes, the blue dot is the light-source :).
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 17:23
$begingroup$
Also, the one Tristan mentioned, here's the tweet for that one yes, the blue dot is the light-source :).
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 17:23
$begingroup$
@MagicOctopusUrn These would be great posted in an answer, just copy/paste!
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 9 at 17:24
$begingroup$
@MagicOctopusUrn These would be great posted in an answer, just copy/paste!
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 9 at 17:24
6
6
$begingroup$
somewhat related: what-if.xkcd.com/13
$endgroup$
– Baldrickk
Jul 10 at 13:20
$begingroup$
somewhat related: what-if.xkcd.com/13
$endgroup$
– Baldrickk
Jul 10 at 13:20
$begingroup$
@Baldrickk speaking of shining light on the Moon: Was there once a semi-serious space-art project planning to use solar reflectors to put a spot of light on the crescent Moon?
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 10 at 13:24
$begingroup$
@Baldrickk speaking of shining light on the Moon: Was there once a semi-serious space-art project planning to use solar reflectors to put a spot of light on the crescent Moon?
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 10 at 13:24
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Don Pettit mentioned a an experiment set up with the San Antonio Astronomical Scociety who pointed both spotlights and a blue laser pointer at the ISS, pictured below in a 5-10 second exposure:
I believe, but don't quote me on this, that the laser pointer was seen while the spotlight was not (with the aperture used). This is a picture from the ground, probably a short exposure (seeing the trail on the ISS). This was not an official experiment, rather one he set up with a friend who wanted to test a theory.
In addition to this, a picture of what the laser from the incident on March 4, 2012 can be seen in this tweet, also by Don Pettit, as Tristan previously mentioned, and would look approximately like this:
If you like cool, seemingly odd, but ultimately insightful experiments I highly suggest looking through his tweets and clicking into his blogs. He does many random experiments which have garnered him scientific patents and entries in research papers.
Quotes from an airspace article:
Early Sunday morning, at 01:27 our time, the San Antonio Astronomical Association, an amateur astronomy group, succeeded in flashing the space station with a one-watt blue laser and a white spotlight as we passed overhead. This took a number of engineering calculations. Projected beam diameters (assuming the propagation of a Gaussian wave for the laser) and intensity at the target had to be calculated. Tracking space station’s path as it streaked across the sky was another challenge. I used email to communicate with Robert Reeves, one of the association’s members. Considering that it takes a day, maybe more, for a simple exchange of messages (on space station we receive email drops two to three times a day), the whole event took weeks to plan.
Another photo of the light, from this source (I am unsure if they are the same image):
Note: This is all paraphrased from a talk he gave at NEAIC, so if it's wrong please correct me.
@DarrelHoffman pointed out that:
Should be noted that a 1 watt laser is far more powerful than the one you buy to tease your cat. At least in the US, the most powerful one a normal person can legally buy is only 5 milliwatts...
It was a 1 watt laser pointer.
answered Jul 9 at 17:29
Magic Octopus UrnMagic Octopus Urn
4,0031 gold badge16 silver badges54 bronze badges
$endgroup$
4
$begingroup$
This is cool and new to me. Pettit was (is) quite a character.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
Jul 9 at 20:29
3
$begingroup$
@OrganicMarble did you see his space-cup ;)?
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 20:31
7
$begingroup$
When getting briefed on the Orbiter fuel cell system, he told us that liquid oxygen is light blue in color, and he knows because he had some in his garage.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
Jul 9 at 20:34
1
$begingroup$
@organicmarble That's hilarious! Did he just keep it on hand? I wonder how much it costs to sustain -300F for periods of time in a garage.
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 20:55
2
$begingroup$
Should be noted that a 1 watt laser is far more powerful than the one you buy to tease your cat. At least in the US, the most powerful one a normal person can legally buy is only 5 milliwatts...
$endgroup$
– Darrel Hoffman
Jul 10 at 13:23
|
show 2 more comments
$begingroup$
This has happened at least once, on March 4, 2012, there was an experiment to do just that.
YouTube: ISS FLASH PROJECT (lower your volume first)
edited Jul 9 at 17:05
uhoh
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
answered Jul 9 at 16:58
TristanTristan
11.9k1 gold badge38 silver badges60 bronze badges
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
"This becomes complicated when highly collimated light from lasers are used, since the beam diameter at our orbital distance is about one kilometer, and this spot has to be tracking us while in the dark." Quite the steady hand! update: Annotation in the video says the laser is mounted on a telescope.
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 9 at 17:03
$begingroup$
This event is the same as the one in Magic Octopus Um's answer.
$endgroup$
– Camille Goudeseune
Jul 10 at 20:14
1
$begingroup$
@CamilleGoudeseune he posted this first, I augmented it with pictures.
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 10 at 22:23
$begingroup$
(Mostly because I didn't know they were the same event when posting and discovered slowly it was).
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 12 at 19:13
add a comment |
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2 Answers
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active
oldest
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2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Don Pettit mentioned a an experiment set up with the San Antonio Astronomical Scociety who pointed both spotlights and a blue laser pointer at the ISS, pictured below in a 5-10 second exposure:
I believe, but don't quote me on this, that the laser pointer was seen while the spotlight was not (with the aperture used). This is a picture from the ground, probably a short exposure (seeing the trail on the ISS). This was not an official experiment, rather one he set up with a friend who wanted to test a theory.
In addition to this, a picture of what the laser from the incident on March 4, 2012 can be seen in this tweet, also by Don Pettit, as Tristan previously mentioned, and would look approximately like this:
If you like cool, seemingly odd, but ultimately insightful experiments I highly suggest looking through his tweets and clicking into his blogs. He does many random experiments which have garnered him scientific patents and entries in research papers.
Quotes from an airspace article:
Early Sunday morning, at 01:27 our time, the San Antonio Astronomical Association, an amateur astronomy group, succeeded in flashing the space station with a one-watt blue laser and a white spotlight as we passed overhead. This took a number of engineering calculations. Projected beam diameters (assuming the propagation of a Gaussian wave for the laser) and intensity at the target had to be calculated. Tracking space station’s path as it streaked across the sky was another challenge. I used email to communicate with Robert Reeves, one of the association’s members. Considering that it takes a day, maybe more, for a simple exchange of messages (on space station we receive email drops two to three times a day), the whole event took weeks to plan.
Another photo of the light, from this source (I am unsure if they are the same image):
Note: This is all paraphrased from a talk he gave at NEAIC, so if it's wrong please correct me.
@DarrelHoffman pointed out that:
Should be noted that a 1 watt laser is far more powerful than the one you buy to tease your cat. At least in the US, the most powerful one a normal person can legally buy is only 5 milliwatts...
It was a 1 watt laser pointer.
answered Jul 9 at 17:29
Magic Octopus UrnMagic Octopus Urn
4,0031 gold badge16 silver badges54 bronze badges
$endgroup$
4
$begingroup$
This is cool and new to me. Pettit was (is) quite a character.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
Jul 9 at 20:29
3
$begingroup$
@OrganicMarble did you see his space-cup ;)?
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 20:31
7
$begingroup$
When getting briefed on the Orbiter fuel cell system, he told us that liquid oxygen is light blue in color, and he knows because he had some in his garage.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
Jul 9 at 20:34
1
$begingroup$
@organicmarble That's hilarious! Did he just keep it on hand? I wonder how much it costs to sustain -300F for periods of time in a garage.
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 20:55
2
$begingroup$
Should be noted that a 1 watt laser is far more powerful than the one you buy to tease your cat. At least in the US, the most powerful one a normal person can legally buy is only 5 milliwatts...
$endgroup$
– Darrel Hoffman
Jul 10 at 13:23
|
show 2 more comments
$begingroup$
Don Pettit mentioned a an experiment set up with the San Antonio Astronomical Scociety who pointed both spotlights and a blue laser pointer at the ISS, pictured below in a 5-10 second exposure:
I believe, but don't quote me on this, that the laser pointer was seen while the spotlight was not (with the aperture used). This is a picture from the ground, probably a short exposure (seeing the trail on the ISS). This was not an official experiment, rather one he set up with a friend who wanted to test a theory.
In addition to this, a picture of what the laser from the incident on March 4, 2012 can be seen in this tweet, also by Don Pettit, as Tristan previously mentioned, and would look approximately like this:
If you like cool, seemingly odd, but ultimately insightful experiments I highly suggest looking through his tweets and clicking into his blogs. He does many random experiments which have garnered him scientific patents and entries in research papers.
Quotes from an airspace article:
Early Sunday morning, at 01:27 our time, the San Antonio Astronomical Association, an amateur astronomy group, succeeded in flashing the space station with a one-watt blue laser and a white spotlight as we passed overhead. This took a number of engineering calculations. Projected beam diameters (assuming the propagation of a Gaussian wave for the laser) and intensity at the target had to be calculated. Tracking space station’s path as it streaked across the sky was another challenge. I used email to communicate with Robert Reeves, one of the association’s members. Considering that it takes a day, maybe more, for a simple exchange of messages (on space station we receive email drops two to three times a day), the whole event took weeks to plan.
Another photo of the light, from this source (I am unsure if they are the same image):
Note: This is all paraphrased from a talk he gave at NEAIC, so if it's wrong please correct me.
@DarrelHoffman pointed out that:
Should be noted that a 1 watt laser is far more powerful than the one you buy to tease your cat. At least in the US, the most powerful one a normal person can legally buy is only 5 milliwatts...
It was a 1 watt laser pointer.
answered Jul 9 at 17:29
Magic Octopus UrnMagic Octopus Urn
4,0031 gold badge16 silver badges54 bronze badges
$endgroup$
4
$begingroup$
This is cool and new to me. Pettit was (is) quite a character.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
Jul 9 at 20:29
3
$begingroup$
@OrganicMarble did you see his space-cup ;)?
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 20:31
7
$begingroup$
When getting briefed on the Orbiter fuel cell system, he told us that liquid oxygen is light blue in color, and he knows because he had some in his garage.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
Jul 9 at 20:34
1
$begingroup$
@organicmarble That's hilarious! Did he just keep it on hand? I wonder how much it costs to sustain -300F for periods of time in a garage.
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 20:55
2
$begingroup$
Should be noted that a 1 watt laser is far more powerful than the one you buy to tease your cat. At least in the US, the most powerful one a normal person can legally buy is only 5 milliwatts...
$endgroup$
– Darrel Hoffman
Jul 10 at 13:23
|
show 2 more comments
$begingroup$
Don Pettit mentioned a an experiment set up with the San Antonio Astronomical Scociety who pointed both spotlights and a blue laser pointer at the ISS, pictured below in a 5-10 second exposure:
I believe, but don't quote me on this, that the laser pointer was seen while the spotlight was not (with the aperture used). This is a picture from the ground, probably a short exposure (seeing the trail on the ISS). This was not an official experiment, rather one he set up with a friend who wanted to test a theory.
In addition to this, a picture of what the laser from the incident on March 4, 2012 can be seen in this tweet, also by Don Pettit, as Tristan previously mentioned, and would look approximately like this:
If you like cool, seemingly odd, but ultimately insightful experiments I highly suggest looking through his tweets and clicking into his blogs. He does many random experiments which have garnered him scientific patents and entries in research papers.
Quotes from an airspace article:
Early Sunday morning, at 01:27 our time, the San Antonio Astronomical Association, an amateur astronomy group, succeeded in flashing the space station with a one-watt blue laser and a white spotlight as we passed overhead. This took a number of engineering calculations. Projected beam diameters (assuming the propagation of a Gaussian wave for the laser) and intensity at the target had to be calculated. Tracking space station’s path as it streaked across the sky was another challenge. I used email to communicate with Robert Reeves, one of the association’s members. Considering that it takes a day, maybe more, for a simple exchange of messages (on space station we receive email drops two to three times a day), the whole event took weeks to plan.
Another photo of the light, from this source (I am unsure if they are the same image):
Note: This is all paraphrased from a talk he gave at NEAIC, so if it's wrong please correct me.
@DarrelHoffman pointed out that:
Should be noted that a 1 watt laser is far more powerful than the one you buy to tease your cat. At least in the US, the most powerful one a normal person can legally buy is only 5 milliwatts...
It was a 1 watt laser pointer.
answered Jul 9 at 17:29
Magic Octopus UrnMagic Octopus Urn
4,0031 gold badge16 silver badges54 bronze badges
$endgroup$
Don Pettit mentioned a an experiment set up with the San Antonio Astronomical Scociety who pointed both spotlights and a blue laser pointer at the ISS, pictured below in a 5-10 second exposure:
I believe, but don't quote me on this, that the laser pointer was seen while the spotlight was not (with the aperture used). This is a picture from the ground, probably a short exposure (seeing the trail on the ISS). This was not an official experiment, rather one he set up with a friend who wanted to test a theory.
In addition to this, a picture of what the laser from the incident on March 4, 2012 can be seen in this tweet, also by Don Pettit, as Tristan previously mentioned, and would look approximately like this:
If you like cool, seemingly odd, but ultimately insightful experiments I highly suggest looking through his tweets and clicking into his blogs. He does many random experiments which have garnered him scientific patents and entries in research papers.
Quotes from an airspace article:
Early Sunday morning, at 01:27 our time, the San Antonio Astronomical Association, an amateur astronomy group, succeeded in flashing the space station with a one-watt blue laser and a white spotlight as we passed overhead. This took a number of engineering calculations. Projected beam diameters (assuming the propagation of a Gaussian wave for the laser) and intensity at the target had to be calculated. Tracking space station’s path as it streaked across the sky was another challenge. I used email to communicate with Robert Reeves, one of the association’s members. Considering that it takes a day, maybe more, for a simple exchange of messages (on space station we receive email drops two to three times a day), the whole event took weeks to plan.
Another photo of the light, from this source (I am unsure if they are the same image):
Note: This is all paraphrased from a talk he gave at NEAIC, so if it's wrong please correct me.
@DarrelHoffman pointed out that:
Should be noted that a 1 watt laser is far more powerful than the one you buy to tease your cat. At least in the US, the most powerful one a normal person can legally buy is only 5 milliwatts...
It was a 1 watt laser pointer.
answered Jul 9 at 17:29
Magic Octopus UrnMagic Octopus Urn
4,0031 gold badge16 silver badges54 bronze badges
edited Jul 10 at 22:22
answered Jul 9 at 17:29
Magic Octopus UrnMagic Octopus Urn
4,0031 gold badge16 silver badges54 bronze badges
answered Jul 9 at 17:29
Magic Octopus UrnMagic Octopus Urn
4,0031 gold badge16 silver badges54 bronze badges
answered Jul 9 at 17:29
Magic Octopus UrnMagic Octopus Urn
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4
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This is cool and new to me. Pettit was (is) quite a character.
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– Organic Marble
Jul 9 at 20:29
3
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@OrganicMarble did you see his space-cup ;)?
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– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 20:31
7
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When getting briefed on the Orbiter fuel cell system, he told us that liquid oxygen is light blue in color, and he knows because he had some in his garage.
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– Organic Marble
Jul 9 at 20:34
1
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@organicmarble That's hilarious! Did he just keep it on hand? I wonder how much it costs to sustain -300F for periods of time in a garage.
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 20:55
2
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Should be noted that a 1 watt laser is far more powerful than the one you buy to tease your cat. At least in the US, the most powerful one a normal person can legally buy is only 5 milliwatts...
$endgroup$
– Darrel Hoffman
Jul 10 at 13:23
|
show 2 more comments
4
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This is cool and new to me. Pettit was (is) quite a character.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
Jul 9 at 20:29
3
$begingroup$
@OrganicMarble did you see his space-cup ;)?
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 20:31
7
$begingroup$
When getting briefed on the Orbiter fuel cell system, he told us that liquid oxygen is light blue in color, and he knows because he had some in his garage.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
Jul 9 at 20:34
1
$begingroup$
@organicmarble That's hilarious! Did he just keep it on hand? I wonder how much it costs to sustain -300F for periods of time in a garage.
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 20:55
2
$begingroup$
Should be noted that a 1 watt laser is far more powerful than the one you buy to tease your cat. At least in the US, the most powerful one a normal person can legally buy is only 5 milliwatts...
$endgroup$
– Darrel Hoffman
Jul 10 at 13:23
4
4
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This is cool and new to me. Pettit was (is) quite a character.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
Jul 9 at 20:29
$begingroup$
This is cool and new to me. Pettit was (is) quite a character.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
Jul 9 at 20:29
3
3
$begingroup$
@OrganicMarble did you see his space-cup ;)?
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 20:31
$begingroup$
@OrganicMarble did you see his space-cup ;)?
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 20:31
7
7
$begingroup$
When getting briefed on the Orbiter fuel cell system, he told us that liquid oxygen is light blue in color, and he knows because he had some in his garage.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
Jul 9 at 20:34
$begingroup$
When getting briefed on the Orbiter fuel cell system, he told us that liquid oxygen is light blue in color, and he knows because he had some in his garage.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
Jul 9 at 20:34
1
1
$begingroup$
@organicmarble That's hilarious! Did he just keep it on hand? I wonder how much it costs to sustain -300F for periods of time in a garage.
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 20:55
$begingroup$
@organicmarble That's hilarious! Did he just keep it on hand? I wonder how much it costs to sustain -300F for periods of time in a garage.
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 20:55
2
2
$begingroup$
Should be noted that a 1 watt laser is far more powerful than the one you buy to tease your cat. At least in the US, the most powerful one a normal person can legally buy is only 5 milliwatts...
$endgroup$
– Darrel Hoffman
Jul 10 at 13:23
$begingroup$
Should be noted that a 1 watt laser is far more powerful than the one you buy to tease your cat. At least in the US, the most powerful one a normal person can legally buy is only 5 milliwatts...
$endgroup$
– Darrel Hoffman
Jul 10 at 13:23
|
show 2 more comments
$begingroup$
This has happened at least once, on March 4, 2012, there was an experiment to do just that.
YouTube: ISS FLASH PROJECT (lower your volume first)
edited Jul 9 at 17:05
uhoh
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
answered Jul 9 at 16:58
TristanTristan
11.9k1 gold badge38 silver badges60 bronze badges
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
"This becomes complicated when highly collimated light from lasers are used, since the beam diameter at our orbital distance is about one kilometer, and this spot has to be tracking us while in the dark." Quite the steady hand! update: Annotation in the video says the laser is mounted on a telescope.
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 9 at 17:03
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This event is the same as the one in Magic Octopus Um's answer.
$endgroup$
– Camille Goudeseune
Jul 10 at 20:14
1
$begingroup$
@CamilleGoudeseune he posted this first, I augmented it with pictures.
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 10 at 22:23
$begingroup$
(Mostly because I didn't know they were the same event when posting and discovered slowly it was).
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 12 at 19:13
add a comment |
$begingroup$
This has happened at least once, on March 4, 2012, there was an experiment to do just that.
YouTube: ISS FLASH PROJECT (lower your volume first)
edited Jul 9 at 17:05
uhoh
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
answered Jul 9 at 16:58
TristanTristan
11.9k1 gold badge38 silver badges60 bronze badges
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
"This becomes complicated when highly collimated light from lasers are used, since the beam diameter at our orbital distance is about one kilometer, and this spot has to be tracking us while in the dark." Quite the steady hand! update: Annotation in the video says the laser is mounted on a telescope.
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 9 at 17:03
$begingroup$
This event is the same as the one in Magic Octopus Um's answer.
$endgroup$
– Camille Goudeseune
Jul 10 at 20:14
1
$begingroup$
@CamilleGoudeseune he posted this first, I augmented it with pictures.
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 10 at 22:23
$begingroup$
(Mostly because I didn't know they were the same event when posting and discovered slowly it was).
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 12 at 19:13
add a comment |
$begingroup$
This has happened at least once, on March 4, 2012, there was an experiment to do just that.
YouTube: ISS FLASH PROJECT (lower your volume first)
edited Jul 9 at 17:05
uhoh
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
answered Jul 9 at 16:58
TristanTristan
11.9k1 gold badge38 silver badges60 bronze badges
$endgroup$
This has happened at least once, on March 4, 2012, there was an experiment to do just that.
YouTube: ISS FLASH PROJECT (lower your volume first)
edited Jul 9 at 17:05
uhoh
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
answered Jul 9 at 16:58
TristanTristan
11.9k1 gold badge38 silver badges60 bronze badges
edited Jul 9 at 17:05
uhoh
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
edited Jul 9 at 17:05
uhoh
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
edited Jul 9 at 17:05
uhoh
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
46.4k22 gold badges186 silver badges609 bronze badges
answered Jul 9 at 16:58
TristanTristan
11.9k1 gold badge38 silver badges60 bronze badges
answered Jul 9 at 16:58
TristanTristan
11.9k1 gold badge38 silver badges60 bronze badges
answered Jul 9 at 16:58
TristanTristan
11.9k1 gold badge38 silver badges60 bronze badges
11.9k1 gold badge38 silver badges60 bronze badges
$begingroup$
"This becomes complicated when highly collimated light from lasers are used, since the beam diameter at our orbital distance is about one kilometer, and this spot has to be tracking us while in the dark." Quite the steady hand! update: Annotation in the video says the laser is mounted on a telescope.
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 9 at 17:03
$begingroup$
This event is the same as the one in Magic Octopus Um's answer.
$endgroup$
– Camille Goudeseune
Jul 10 at 20:14
1
$begingroup$
@CamilleGoudeseune he posted this first, I augmented it with pictures.
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 10 at 22:23
$begingroup$
(Mostly because I didn't know they were the same event when posting and discovered slowly it was).
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 12 at 19:13
add a comment |
$begingroup$
"This becomes complicated when highly collimated light from lasers are used, since the beam diameter at our orbital distance is about one kilometer, and this spot has to be tracking us while in the dark." Quite the steady hand! update: Annotation in the video says the laser is mounted on a telescope.
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 9 at 17:03
$begingroup$
This event is the same as the one in Magic Octopus Um's answer.
$endgroup$
– Camille Goudeseune
Jul 10 at 20:14
1
$begingroup$
@CamilleGoudeseune he posted this first, I augmented it with pictures.
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 10 at 22:23
$begingroup$
(Mostly because I didn't know they were the same event when posting and discovered slowly it was).
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 12 at 19:13
$begingroup$
"This becomes complicated when highly collimated light from lasers are used, since the beam diameter at our orbital distance is about one kilometer, and this spot has to be tracking us while in the dark." Quite the steady hand! update: Annotation in the video says the laser is mounted on a telescope.
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 9 at 17:03
$begingroup$
"This becomes complicated when highly collimated light from lasers are used, since the beam diameter at our orbital distance is about one kilometer, and this spot has to be tracking us while in the dark." Quite the steady hand! update: Annotation in the video says the laser is mounted on a telescope.
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 9 at 17:03
$begingroup$
This event is the same as the one in Magic Octopus Um's answer.
$endgroup$
– Camille Goudeseune
Jul 10 at 20:14
$begingroup$
This event is the same as the one in Magic Octopus Um's answer.
$endgroup$
– Camille Goudeseune
Jul 10 at 20:14
1
1
$begingroup$
@CamilleGoudeseune he posted this first, I augmented it with pictures.
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 10 at 22:23
$begingroup$
@CamilleGoudeseune he posted this first, I augmented it with pictures.
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 10 at 22:23
$begingroup$
(Mostly because I didn't know they were the same event when posting and discovered slowly it was).
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 12 at 19:13
$begingroup$
(Mostly because I didn't know they were the same event when posting and discovered slowly it was).
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 12 at 19:13
add a comment |
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pbs.twimg.com/media/AocWtTtCMAEjFpt.jpg:large was the one I was talking about he mentioned in his talk, they also pointed a searchlight at the ISS. I believe, but don't quote me on this, that the laser pointer was seen while the spotlight was not. This is a picture from the ground, probably a short exposure (seeing the trail on the ISS). This was not an official experiment, rather one he set up with a friend himself. Here's the tweet: twitter.com/astro_Pettit/status/182139277566685184
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 17:21
1
$begingroup$
Also, the one Tristan mentioned, here's the tweet for that one yes, the blue dot is the light-source :).
$endgroup$
– Magic Octopus Urn
Jul 9 at 17:23
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@MagicOctopusUrn These would be great posted in an answer, just copy/paste!
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 9 at 17:24
6
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somewhat related: what-if.xkcd.com/13
$endgroup$
– Baldrickk
Jul 10 at 13:20
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@Baldrickk speaking of shining light on the Moon: Was there once a semi-serious space-art project planning to use solar reflectors to put a spot of light on the crescent Moon?
$endgroup$
– uhoh
Jul 10 at 13:24