It's all done by sun and mirrors!

[The Admiral]

I originally posted this as a reply in an old thread, but it's such a salutory lesson I think it's worth it's own thread. The talk was of shaving mirrors, but this is what can happen when one is left on a window sill.

This happened mid-morning on a December day, with dirty windows to boot (as you can see!). Initially, we could detect a plasticky over-heating smell, but it wasn't until rather later that I came across what had really happened. Just as well it didn't strike the curtains or I don't know what would have happened.

The moral of this story - don't leave magnifying mirrors anywhere where they can receive the sun's rays.

Also, it gives one a notion of what could happen if you use an unfiltered telescope to view the sun.

Ian

[niallk]

As a teenage girl might say... OMG!!!

I saw a pic of a burnt out large truss dob on t'interweb before - it had been left out to let the dew dry off and caught the morning sun: scarey!

[Peter Drew]

We returned from a mile away for a day out having forgotten something to find curtains smouldering in my sister's bedroom. This was caused by a magnifying makeup  mirror catching the Sun.  

[laudropb]

Just moved my shaving I mirror front he window sill, although we seem to get so little sun here

[Pete Presland]

Very good advice!

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk

[Astro Imp]

A timely reminder, one cannot be too careful and it is so easy to be caught out. Thanks for posting.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I used to leave my shaving mirror on the bathroom window sill which faces the rising sun. This exact thing crossed my mind a few months ago and i now store my shaving mirror on a shelf well below the window and out of reach of the suns rays.

[Beulah]

Can also happen with glass vases, spectacles, etc. A mate of mine lost her upper floor to fire when she left a drinking glass on her sunny windowsill.

[Knight of Clear Skies]

My parents did this once and left a line of char in the window frame. Then they visited my sister and did it again....

Leaving parabolic reflectors out in the Sun isn't the best idea, as the architects of the Walkie Talkie building found out when it melted someone's car.

[David Smith]

Scary stuff

My parents did this once and left a line of char in the window frame. Then they visited my sister and did it again....

Leaving parabolic reflectors out in the Sun isn't the best idea, as the architects of the Walkie Talkie building found out when it melted someone's car.

I was hoping for a little blob of goo in the road

[The Admiral]

It is quite surprising how many folk either have encountered, or know someone who has encountered, the affects of magnifying mirrors left in the sun, sometimes with dreadful consequences. It's a wonder it hasn't got a higher profile.

Ian

[Scooot]

I agree, you can't be too careful. My mum left her magnifying glass lying around so the sun scorched a black burn mark on her wooden floor, right next to her coffee table that had a pile of newspapers on its shelf.