WL Nano or LG Galileo for astronomy?

[johnnyscience]

The majority of Wicked Lasers hosts are cast not premium machined. Only the first prototype is machined.

Dont delude yourself. :tsk:

I spoke with WL customer service & they said the Nano is machined? They are aircraft grade aluminum & depending on if it's 6061 or 7075 aluminum, 6061 is usually machined after its cast where 7075 is usually just machined.

I'll be honest, I really love everything about the Nano, the way it looks, size, the functions and the mW. Price is maybe a bit high, but whatever.

If you're into astronomy, know that a green laser can wreck your night vision. People use red lights for their star charts for a reason. Why don't you use a more powerful red laser instead? A red laser in the 635nm area would be much brighter than typical 650nm lasers, but still preserve your night vision.

I can't imagine a 15mW green laser wrecking night vision by just looking at the beam, sadly there's usually more light pollution or headlights to really ruin it.

But I wouldn't be opposed to a brighter red one. How many mW would you need in a 635nm to be good for astronomy? Who makes this spectrum of laser?

 

[JayC]

First off, I would stay away from Wicker Lasers if you can. They are known for bad shipping and customer service along with not so great products internally. Secondly, 5mw is plenty for astronomy when it's truly dark outside. 15mw is a bit overkill. On top of that, you can trust that if you're buying from Laser Glow you're getting true 5mw. 5mw is also considered eye safe meaning that it's not going to blind you if there is any accidental exposure while with 15mw, you can be in trouble if you're not wearing any protection.

 

[trencheel303]

5mW is enough for astronomy, 15mW would be too bright. I mean you can only see the brightest stars and planets after pointing at something on the sky with 15mW+. For finding objects just simply use an finderscope, you won't see the star/planet/nebulae/etc. because of the beam brightness.

First off, I would stay away from Wicker Lasers if you can. They are known for bad shipping and customer service along with not so great products internally. Secondly, 5mw is plenty for astronomy when it's truly dark outside. 15mw is a bit overkill. On top of that, you can trust that if you're buying from Laser Glow you're getting true 5mw. 5mw is also considered eye safe meaning that it's not going to blind you if there is any accidental exposure while with 15mw, you can be in trouble if you're not wearing any protection.

At the risk of repeating myself, it depends on if you are presenting to people more than a few steps away from the beam axis or not. 5mW will only be enough for your own alignment purposes or showing one other person provided they push up against your cheek.

And, as has also been said by me and others, if you're serious about it use a red laser. They can be had powerful enough to easily see the beam, but being red doesn't bugger your night vision.

 

[johnnyscience]

At the risk of repeating myself, it depends on if you are presenting to people more than a few steps away from the beam axis or not. 5mW will only be enough for your own alignment purposes or showing one other person provided they push up against your cheek.

And, as has also been said by me and others, if you're serious about it use a red laser. They can be had powerful enough to easily see the beam, but being red doesn't bugger your night vision.

Well how bright does red have to be to use it for astronomy? They have a 100mW Nano... if that won't do the trick I'm just going to stick with the 15mW green one & place my order tonight.

I am going to get the Nano for a pocket tool to use & have fun with & get the Galileo or more likely the Galileo Pro for a dedicated telescope laser.

 

[trencheel303]

I have a 635 running 30mW and it can be seen in a DARK sky up to a few feet from the beam axis. So, even some of the higher power single mode 635s would be adequate, like the 180mW diode. Unless you need to present to a group, in which case a multimode 635 would surely suffice also.

I haven't yet tried a beam expanded blue or green as I need to somehow find a beam expander for my SKY units. All I know is a bright green or blue beam killed my night vision last I tried.

 

[johnnyscience]

I have a 635 running 30mW and it can be seen in a DARK sky up to a few feet from the beam axis. So, even some of the higher power single mode 635s would be adequate, like the 180mW diode. Unless you need to present to a group, in which case a multimode 635 would surely suffice also.

I haven't yet tried a beam expanded blue or green as I need to somehow find a beam expander for my SKY units. All I know is a bright green or blue beam killed my night vision last I tried.

What mW was the green you used?

I ended up ordering the green Nano. I figured at 15mW it's safer than a 100mW red laser and highly visible.

 

[trencheel303]

What mW was the green you used?

I ended up ordering the green Nano. I figured at 15mW it's safer than a 100mW red laser and highly visible.

100mW green and 1600mW 445. The 445 was so bright in the rapidly cooling evening air that the beam had a sort of cloud of blue around it. Far too bright!!!

 

[johnnyscience]

Yeah those are pretty bright.

I think I'm going to be quite happy with the 15mW green Nano.

Ordered an extra pair of goggles so the kid and I can both be safe when using it for things besides astronomy.

I think the lens for the green laser goggles is red? I'm surprised its not green to match/filter out the green laser?

 

[ScottW]

Hey JohnnyScience,

Some of info is too late, since you've already made your purchase. But I have both Red (100mW) and Green (15mW) Nanos.

As others have said, what works best really depends on the conditions.

I live in an area with moderate light pollution (just outside a small city). Here, the Red Nano beam is barely visible and really only for the person holding it. It does not work for pointing out stars to others. The Green Nano is VERY visible and works well, but is not so bright that it ruins night vision (because there isn't much night vision that isn't already ruined by the existing light pollution).

In ideal viewing conditions where there is minimal or no light pollution, the Red is a far better choice. The beam is visible enough for a small group, and does not harm night vision. The green is far too bright and would ruin everyone's night vision instantly.

From a quality standpoint, both of them are nicely made and have worked well for me. No complaints, except being priced high for the output power provided.

Beware that they use 1.5v AAA alkaline batteries, and they use them pretty fast. In my experience, the brightness visibly declines after perhaps 10 minutes of cumulative use. They will run much longer than that before the batteries run out, but depending on the conditions may or may not be bright enough for your purpose the entire time. And due to the electronic "momentary and constant-on" switch design, they pull about 0.25mA when not being used. So always carry extra batteries, and don't store the laser with batteries inserted -- or they be dead when you go to use it (and could also leak and damage the laser).

Good luck with your purchase. Please post a review when you get it -- let us know how the purchase went, how long shipping took, and how the laser works for your application.