Image Details
Caption: Figure 16.
Detection threshold vs. wavelength for the power from just-detectable diffraction-limited lasers launched from 10 m optics located near F5, G3, K2, and M2 main-sequence stars. Spectra taken without the iodine cell are shown in blue and those with the iodine cell are shown in red. The laser power required for detection varies between several kilowatts to 13 MW, with the variations caused by the competing spectral energy distribution of the stars and the choppiness of the spectra from absorption lines. Of special note are the thresholds for the faint M dwarfs, for which the threshold laser power for detection ranges from 1 to 120 kW, depending on wavelength and only weakly on the presence of iodine lines. For other stars of the same spectral type, thresholds will be similar to within approximately 50%.
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