[meteorite-list] OT - Freak Telescope Accident

From: Linton Rohr <lintonius_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:12:29 -0700
Message-ID: <F12D282B983C4FD285207B5D8EB7A72E_at_D190TH71>

Hi folks.
I know we're not all astronomers here, but this I have to share...
Ouch! That hurts. Crazy story out of Minneapolis. You know this guy, Bob?
Text pasted below, but photo and video can be found at this site:
Linton - Always cover your mirror!

http://wcco.com:80/local/mike.lynch.telescope.2.1963406.html

WCCO Radio Meteorologist Mike Lynch says the stars aligned when a fire on
his back deck started with his telescope.

"I get a call from my wife up at 'CCO radio and she calls me up and says,
'the telescope just blew up and the deck's on fire,' and I rush home and she
has called 911," said Lynch.

What baffled firefighters was clear to Lynch, who is an avid astronomer. He
left his telescope out on his deck.

"I put a towel over the eyepiece hole so it wouldn't get a bunch of dew on
it," said Lynch.

But overnight, the telescope raised into the sky somehow.

"The most amazing thing happened -- the chances of this are so small -- the
sun just happened to cross right in front of the opening of the scope," said
Lynch. "It collected the light, bounced it back to the focal point."

That's similar to starting a fire with a magnifying glass, but much more
powerful, according to Lynch. The sun hit a 14-inch mirror that collects the
light.

"It bounced up. It was magnified greatly, bounced up and came out through
(the eyepiece), started the towel on fire," said Lynch.

Luckily, the fire didn't spread to his home.

On Thursday night, Lynch held a stargazing class at Casey Lake Park in North
St. Paul. He usually tells the stories behind the constellations, but had
another story to tell about the power of our planet's biggest star.

"It just goes to show the power of the sun and you never ever want to look
at the sun through a telescope," said Lynch. "What are the chances it will
pass through a telescope like that? Pretty small."
Received on Tue 19 Oct 2010 07:12:29 PM PDT