[meteorite-list] OT - Freak Telescope Accident

[Linton Rohr]

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."