 Random-orientation absorbing-disk cross-section

A circular, opaque, geometrically thin disk has projected area $\pi R^2|\cos i|$. For isotropically oriented normals, $|\cos i|$ is uniform on $[0,1]$, so the mean interception area is half the face-on area. A nonunit covering fraction multiplies this cross-section. Finite thickness, orientation-dependent absorption thresholds and incomplete coverage can change it; this is an average over randomly placed disks, not the inclination distribution conditional on an observed interception.