> On Mar 23, 2019, at 10:49 AM, Alan C <c...@lantic.net> wrote:
> 
> What do you make of these?
> 
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/wisselstroom/47397077752/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7fchtEJpy8

But in answer to your question, it seems that the maximum aperture of a cat’s 
eye is 0.9

https://everything2.com/title/Cat%2527s+Eyes

The eyes of the cat are designed for the life they live - nighttime hunters. 
They are able to see at light levels 1/6th that humans can see.
The pupil of a cat opens about three times as wide as that of a person. At 
maximum dilation, a cats eye may be up to one centimeter across. This is in 
combination with a large cornea. For those who are familiar with photography 
(see f-stop for more information on this particular area) consider the maximum 
aperture:

        • human eye is f/2.4
        • a fast normal lens is f/1.4
        • owl's eye is f/1.3
        • cat's eye is f/0.9
The number after the 'f/' is the ratio of the focal length of the lens to the 
diameter of the pupil (aperture). The smaller the number, the more light that 
gets in.
The slit shape of the cat pupil is more effective at blocking bright light than 
that of the round pupil (as in the human and owl) - it can close down further. 
By being able to close down the pupil to a small slit it avoids over 
stimulation of a sensitive retina. The amount of light can then be further 
reduced by squinting. Because the pupil is not circular this does mean that the 
vision is not as clear when the pupil is closed (slit) as when it is wide open 
compared to animals that form a single pinhole when the pupil is closed down.

The retina of a cat has many times the number of rods as a human does. Rod 
cells in the retina are responsible for detecting light levels and motion 
(rather than color as the cones do). The ratio of rods to cones in a human is 
about 4:1 - a cat is 25:1. Cats may see some blues and greens but are deficient 
in red (which would look gray). This is likely due to the prey they hunt and 
the time of day when they are being hunted - seeing reds at night isn't that 
useful.

Furthermore, the back of the retina has a layer called the tapetum ludium. This 
layer reflects light back again into the retina (and out of the eye). This 
layer is what makes the cat's eyes shine at night. The eyesight is compromised 
by being slightly blurrier (the light has traveled a bit further and is not 
focus). This layer also shifts the wavelength of light toward the maximum 
sensitivity of the light detecting layer. This causes the dusk sky to be 
brighter increasing contrast between the sky and things in front of it.

http://www.angelfire.com/mo2/KittenCats/sight.html
http://www.zooclub.ru/eng/cats/sost/2.htm
http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB/Proceedings/PR05000/PR00515.htm
http://staff.src.wisc.edu/pupa/08.pdf 
http://ebiomedia.com/gall/eyes/eye1.html

> 
> 
> Alan C
> 
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--
Larry Colen
l...@red4est.com




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