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I was trying to figure out which telescope at the McDonald observatory has this interesting bit of trivia associated with it. And this telescope was missing it article. Astronomy magazine is the main source for this brief article.
Astronomy Magazine July 1987 (p.13) include picture of gunshot holes in mirror
The description is somewhat incorrect. The main reason the mirror did not shatter is that it is about a meter thick and shooting it is basically like shooting a concrete wall.
I doubt its a meter thick of pure glass, its not even 3 meters wide. Generally they are made thin to save weight. Need to add references for that statement. --MarsRover
It's a foot thick. He didn't shoot at the mirror until after he discovered that he could not break it with a hammer that he had brought for that purpose. The difference in area between a 107-inch and 105-inch mirror is more than one-fourth of a square yard. The total area damaged was only a few square inches. (I personally saw it up-close and photographed it the next day.) Both numbers "105" and "107" were used for the mirror diameter in the early history of the telescope and do not have anything to do with the attack on the mirror. There was no bullet embedded in the mirror. Some glass was removed around the damaged areas to smooth the surface and relieve local stresses. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.54.82.86 (talk) 18:23, 20 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
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