I have a laser pointer, as so many people do these days, and I was wondering about a certain appearance the laser dot has regardless of the surface it is directed at.
The laser looks grainy. Yes, it appears that the large laser dot is made up of a series of very tiny bright points. I considered that they were the result of my inability to find a perfectly smooth surface to view it, but my next observations made me skeptical. If the smaller points of light were the uneven surface reflecting better in some places than others, then if I continued to observe the spot while changing my viewpoint the dots would ‘shimmer’ (some dots fading out to be replaced by other dots in different places). Instead, they seemed to shift as a group passing off one side to be replaced by more from the other, each stationary in relation to each other.
What is this? Are my eyes playing tricks on me?