Astrophotographer Callum Wingrove is based in the suburbs of London under Bortle 7 skies, where he primarily images from home using focal lengths between 135mm and 860mm. Earlier this year, he came across an 8″ Meade LX10 SCT that had been sitting unused at a local astronomy society for years.
“The scope was 27 years old, and its fork mount no longer worked. It just felt wrong for it to be left to rust,” he recalls.
The optical tube, however, was still in decent condition. After cleaning it up and removing it from the broken fork mount, he placed the tube on one of his equatorial mounts. With the addition of a Crayford focuser and a ZWO EAF, the old SCT was ready for a new chapter.
“I pointed it at the Crescent Nebula and captured just under 10 hours of Ha, OIII, and RGB data at its native focal length, using ASIAIR to control everything. Paired with the ASI1600MM Pro, the image revealed NGC 6888 in incredible detail — far more than I expected.”
What was once an aging visual telescope is now producing impressive astrophotography results. “This old scope has proven its capabilities. It has a new lease on life, and it makes me happy knowing it’s no longer rusting away unused. I’m looking forward to many more nights under the stars with it.”