Smoking lengthens dark-adaption time by a factor of three!

Swedish medical researchers discovered quite by accident that smoking
reduces blood flow to the eye and dark adaption time was seriously
extended.

They considered it dangerous to drive at night within three hours of
smoking a single cigarette!

This surely has consequneces for amateur astronomers?

Perhaps someone will calculate the required increase in aperture for
DSO work to compensate for chain smoking?

But I suppose chain-smokers can't afford bigger telescopes anyway! :-)

Regards
Chris.B

wrote:

Swedish medical researchers discovered quite by accident that smoking
reduces blood flow to the eye and dark adaption time was seriously
extended.

Bugger. I shall have to give up ciggies and start smoking guns like
that other guy advises. So far I've found them very hard to light.

Perhaps someone will calculate the required increase in aperture
for DSO work to compensate for chain smoking?

Chain smoking has the same problem but doesn't have quite the bang..

Cheers

Martin

--
Martin Frey
http://www.hadastro.org.uk
N 51 02 E 0 47

"Martin Frey" wrote in message
...
wrote:

Swedish medical researchers discovered quite by accident that smoking
reduces blood flow to the eye and dark adaption time was seriously
extended.

Bugger. I shall have to give up ciggies and start smoking guns like
that other guy advises. So far I've found them very hard to light.

Perhaps someone will calculate the required increase in aperture
for DSO work to compensate for chain smoking?

Chain smoking has the same problem but doesn't have quite the bang..

Cheers

Martin

(Bogger! I've just sent this to whatever email you have Martin. Sorry chap!)

Maybe you can get hold of some *cough* chemicals to dilate your pupils and
thus offset the dark-adaptation delay with wider pupils? ;o)

Cheers,
Jim
"It's for educational use ociffer. Honest."

Martin Frey wrote:

Bugger. I shall have to give up ciggies and start smoking guns like
that other guy advises. So far I've found them very hard to light.

Chain smoking has the same problem but doesn't have quite the bang..


You're "wasted" Martin!

I'd mention pipe smoking but I know how sensitive you are about
drainpipes and solar projection.....not to mention your PST.

Be (very) careful out there! ;-)

Regards
Chris.B

James Hill wrote:

Maybe you can get hold of some *cough* chemicals to dilate your
pupils and
thus offset the dark-adaptation delay with wider pupils? ;o)

"Wider pupils"? Is this a reference to the child obesity debate?

Chris.B

That is bull**** of the first magnitude... think about it... what happens to
your dark adaptation the first time you are facing oncoming traffic
headlights, especially when it's some moron who won't dim his brights?
Orion

wrote in message
ups.com...
Swedish medical researchers discovered quite by accident that smoking
reduces blood flow to the eye and dark adaption time was seriously
extended.

They considered it dangerous to drive at night within three hours of
smoking a single cigarette!

This surely has consequneces for amateur astronomers?

Perhaps someone will calculate the required increase in aperture for
DSO work to compensate for chain smoking?

But I suppose chain-smokers can't afford bigger telescopes anyway! :-)

Regards
Chris.B

Orion wrote:
That is bull**** of the first magnitude... think about it... what
happens to
your dark adaptation the first time you are facing oncoming traffic
headlights, especially when it's some moron who won't dim his
brights?


Er..You scream obscenities at them as you run off the road?

Dark adaptation is a two-part process.

Pupil dilation and chemical changes in the eye.

Oncoming bright lights cause your pupils to contract to stop you being
"blinded".

But the chemical dark adaptation is probably still intact to some
degree. There is also the matter of your own vehicle's headlights
lighting the way. So you aren't fully dark adapted anyway.

It's a different matter on a bicycle. If a car doesn't see you or won't
dip for a cyclist you see flashing lights before your eyes for a
considerable length of time after they have passed. I deliberately
shield my eyes from all car headlights with my hand when I'm cycling
after dark in the countryside.

One's age is also involved in dark adaptation. The older one becomes
the more difficult it is to drive at night. There is also a very wide
variation in night vision between people of all ages.

Chris.B

This is all interesting.

I do smoke, usually about 2 a day except when I'm out clubbing at the
weekends when it's more.

Both my sister and I, but I more so, I think, naturally have HUGE pupils
in dim light - maybe our eyes are not that sensitive, necessitating more
dilation than is normal.

But I think my eyes are pretty damn sensitive when dark adapted. I shall
have to do some experiments to see how long it takes to become "fully"
adapted.

By the way, what's the time constant after smoking, say, 2 cigarettes, for
a return to a more normal dark adaption time, and is the asymptotic D.A. time
equal to that for a non-smoker, and if not, how much different is it?

See, such fanatical claims don't stand up. The phoneomenon needs to be
specified in FAR more detail, to be useful.

Course, I is a goth, and I wears shades outside ALWAYS in daytime, so
actually, I find it uncomfortable to be exposed to normal daylight (even
overcast, sometimes), without shades on.


Martin

--
M.A.Poyser Tel.: 07967 110890
Manchester, U.K. http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=fleetie

Ar you sure you are a Goth?
No family from Eastern Europe?
Living in deserted old castles?
That sort of thing? ;-)

Chris Van Helsing

wrote in message
Ar you sure you are a Goth?

http://www.fleetie.demon.co.uk/images/me_20000812_s.jpg

That was back in 2000, mind you.

What do YOU think? Ha ha!

Anyway, back to the science!


Martin
--
M.A.Poyser Tel.: 07967 110890
Manchester, U.K. http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=fleetie