fire alarm!

As we set up our telescopes on the viewing pad, I suggested to Gilles and Nicole that, with their automated 'scope, we try to find some day-time planets.

Their 'scope, while a GOTO, does not have a GPS. So I explained that you can, with the finder scope, take a bearing on The Sun, and then that gives you your alignment.

They were keen.

We tried that. But, in the end, couldn't see anything... Drag. Was looking forward to viewing Jupiter in the day time.

Then Gilles noticed something wrong on the eyepiece of his finder scope. The cross hairs were broken and curled every which way. We suddenly realised that I had set the cross hairs on fire! Crikey! Oops.

I felt terrible! Gilles urged me not to worry about it. He said he's restring the reticule perhaps using hairs from his wife!