In its day it was Hubble's double: a cutting-edge telescope at the forefront of space exploration. Now the 150-year-old Cooke telescope at Airdrie Public Observatory, one of just four in Scotland, is to get a new lease of life.

Teams of local craftsmen and engineers have put the final touches to a new polished copper dome to house the instrument, as part of our £500,000 re-roofing project at Airdrie Library.

Joint curator Paul Clark said: "The telescope was a real Roll's Royce piece of equipment when it was built by Thomas Cooke around 1845.

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"The Cooke was easily equivalent to the Hubble space telescope of today. In fact we can even see the Horsehead Nebula, photographed so spectacularly from space by the Hubble."

Paul added: "The instrument was designed for viewing the planets and it can see as far as Neptune. The clouds on Jupiter are quite spectacular, as are Saturn's rings"

The work to restore the telescope has been carried out in Ayrshire, while local companies from Glasgow and Hamilton have been involved in rebuilding the dome.

Lending Services Manager Catriona Wales said: "The previous dome was made from fibreglass and when we had to replace the library roof it made sense to restore the dome to its former glory, in conjunction with Historic Scotland.

"It has a steel frame with timber cladding and a polished copper skin. In time, that will turn green with verdigris."

The works on the dome and telescope are expected to give the instrument another 20 to 30 years of serviceable life.

The observatory is owned by North Lanarkshire Council and run on its behalf by the Airdrie Astronomical Association.

(GK/KMcA)