[Wavytone]

Mmm .. old news ... by about 6 decades. Using an artificial star is described in one of the ATM volumes (Ingals et al).

Key point is to set it up at least 20 focal lengths from the scope in stable still air, which for larger scopes might be difficult or impossible, however.

While my apartment does have a long basement - more than adequate to use an artificial star to align my mak Newtonian - it isn’t long enough to do the job for my MK91 which requires over 60metres... so for that it has to be a real star.

While star testing in daylight is possible in theory (eg sun glinting off a distant object) having tried it the atmospheric turbulence was so bad as to make this useless.

Even his method for making the pinhole is crude... the article I recall recommended honing a needle point then an arrangement to drop it precisely on tinfoil placed on glass. Virtually any other method results in a ragged miss-shaped hole.

A modern way to make precision pinholes exists - using a laser - however a beam with the required power poses a safety hazard to eyes and skin, and is illegal outside a company with an established laser safety system.