Gets the streaks out!The Meade 8-inch Equatorial Wedge will eliminate field-rotation effects when you're using your LX200 or LX200 GPS telescope for astrophotography. You can do astrophotography with the LX200 scopes in the standard altazimuth mode but with longer exposure times an effect called field rotation becomes evident. Stars at the edge of the field will appear as small concentric arcs or streaks on the film rather than as star points. This effect which does not relate to the accuracy of the telescope's computer or internal alignment occurs on all altazimuth-mounted telescopes. It's simply a side effect of the altazimuth-type mount itself.Preventing field rotationTo prevent field rotation your LX200 or LX200 GPS can be polar-aligned with the wedge. The wedge allows you to align the telescope's axis of rotation with the Earth's rotational axis. And this eliminates the effects of field rotation and gets the star streaks out.This wedge also can be used with an 8-inch LX90 telescope if purchased with an adapter plate. An alternative to using a wedge is employing the field de-rotater. The de-rotater allows you to stay in altazimuth mode and correct field rotation for longer-exposure astrophotography and CCD imaging.
