• Question: Can you ever make an laser which is a mile long?

    Asked by daniel1289 to Rob, Marcus on 16 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Marcus Gallagher-Jones

      Marcus Gallagher-Jones answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      The one I work at is 800 metres long so close. There is another XFEL in the states which is a little over 1km and one being built in germany that will be 3.4km.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_x-ray_free_electron_laser

    • Photo: Robert Thompson

      Robert Thompson answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      Hey not entirely sure what you mean by this, but if you mean can you make a laser beam which is a mile long then definitely. Lasers are used in astronomy to make a pretend star in the sky that can be used to make sure the telescope is working correctly. For one type of lasers this can shine 56miles(90KM) in the sky. It looks pretty cool as well. http://www.gemini.edu/node/11226

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