Meade Ultrawedge for 10/12/14 LX200 and LX400 Telescopes

The Meade Ultrawedge for 10/12/14-inch LX200 and RCX400 Model 07008 telescopes will eliminate field-rotation effects when you're using your telescope for astrophotography.

You can do astrophotography with LX200 and RCX400 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 Rotation:

To prevent field rotation, your LX200 or RCX400 Model 07008 telescope 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. This eliminates the effects of field rotation and gets the star streaks out.

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.