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g'day,
This talk of an alternative is interesting but really unnecessary.
Handheld green lasers under 1mW are legal Australia wide, which is more then bright enough for what we use them for.
With regards to being "noticed" using a green laser, the beam itself is invisible to anyone more than 5 to 10 metres away, so only the person holding the pointer and anyone standing next to him will see the green line. Neighbours won't see a thing unless you point it toward them.
If the green colour is a concern, red laser pointers do the trick, but have to be much brighter for the beam to be visible... but the law is with regard to "handheld laser pointers", ie the type that go on keyrings and fit in your front pocket. You can legally buy the laser modules (just a laser with out a casing) up to any power you like, so you can quite happily purchase a 150mW red module and mount it to your telescope.
There are some nice 1mW green pointers on ebay for around the $8 mark, again perfectly legal and ideal for astronomy. Just keep in mind that customs doesnt like individuals importing them due to the amount of people trying to import the overpowered ones, so try to go for an aussie seller.
anyway that's my 2c,
j
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