Some notes on #Example 2 - try it outdoors on a piece of ground with high contrasting areas. I suggest the end of a runway, standing among the white painted triangles.
Look up about 60 degrees above the horizon and toggle between setApertureNew [2, 8, 14, .9]; and the default setting of setAperture -1;. There should be little change -- at least on the date in the example.
Reset again to setApertureNew [2, 8, 14, .9]; and then pan slowly down until you're basically looking at your feet. The less sky (the main outdoor light source) you see, the 'wider' (toward the 'min' number) the aperture will become. Looking at the ground on a runway, for example, you should be able to easily distinguish the painted white triangles from the unpainted pavement. Again, toggle back to the default aperture. The view should get much darker.
This setting allows for some natural adjustment based on the amount of visible light in the scene, and is highly encouraged over the default fixed aperature for night missions. When you're standing in the beam of a lighthouse, for example (try near the 'Spartan' on Stratis), you will be basically unable to see anything not illuminated by the beam. Once the beam passes and your vision returns to normal, your immediate surroundings will be dimmer, of course, but you'll be able to see further out.