I have a very high power green laser, and some teenager at one of our parties stuck his hand into the beam while I was showing a group of people some of the areas they wanted to find objects in. My laser light from off of his hand blinded me completely for about a half hour. This is an example of being thoughtless and rude. I do not find the laser itself blinds unless directly pointed at a person or at a very close object. When you purchase the high powered lasers they have a disclaimer that tells you eye damage can come from aiming them at someone and how careful you should be. I make sure now that no one is standing within a few feet of me while aiming so I do not inadvertently hit someone, and I am very careful to turn it off before I do anything else but point at a star with it. I approve of laser pointers greatly. Lisa Zeigler www.johnstelescopes.com www.mirrorkits.com -----Original Message----- From: Kim Hyatt [mailto:kimharch@msn.com] Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2004 3:36 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Green laser pointers and Star Parties... I forgot that some may use green lasers to actually aim their scopes. Last year at Wolf Creek we had an evening in June that was so transparent the green laser was absolutely useless for anything. I've never seen skies that demonstrably clear. Kim Hyatt Architect 1849 East 1300 South Salt Lake City, Utah 84108 801.631.5228 kimharch@msn.com<mailto:kimharch@msn.com> serius est quam cogitas