Laser Vision Correction & Astronomy

Does anyone have experience with Lasik vision correction and visual astronomy? I would hate to make a mistake and lose what limited night vision we really have. Thanks In Advance, John

Try searching the archives. This has been discussed several times in the observing forum.

--Lonnie

I guess the eyes count as "equipment"

I had it done (LASEK, actually) and am sure glad I did. It didn't hurt my night vision any, practically no side effects.

Just make sure your maximum iris diamter is smaller than the treatment area or you will have night vision problems.

H

IF IT AINT BROKE, DON'T FIX IT! Seriously, I had cataract surgery, but during the lead up to this I had lots of discussion about LASIK etc. The area of the cornea which is formed to correct your vision is roughly 3.5 mm in diameter. The transition zone from the corrected area to the uncorrected area forms a ring around the corrected area of the cornea. When the pupil dilates to larger than the corrected area you get haloes, starbursts and other interesting and unwanted visual effects. The normal pupil dilates to 5 to 7 mm; thus you will get haloes and starbursts around bright lights like Jupiter, Sirius, Venus, the moon, tail lights, traffic control signals, head lights, street lights and so on. This is less noticeable around comparatively dim objects; double stars for instance. YMMV. This is like jumping off a cliff: once you do this you aren't going back. If you do this and it gets screwed up you will have the entire rest of your life to regret it: act in haste and repent at leisure.

check out http://www.lasikdisaster.com