List of largest optical telescopes historically explained

Telescopes have grown in size since they first appeared around 1608. The following tables list the increase in size over the years. Different technologies can and have been used to build telescopes, which are used to magnify distant views especially in astronomy.

By overall aperture

The following is a list of largest single mount optical telescopes sorted by total objective diameter (aperture), including segmented and multi-mirror configurations. It is a historical list, with the instruments listed in chronological succession by objective size. By itself, the diameter of the primary optics can be a poor measure of a telescope's historical or scientific significance; for example, William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse's 72-inch (1.8 m) reflecting telescope did not perform as well (i.e. gather as much light) as the smaller silvered glass mirror telescopes that succeeded it because of the poor performance of its speculum metal mirror.

Optical Telescopes (List by Overall Aperture)
Name Type Built by Location Year
width=65 width=65 Inch
Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) 10.4 m 409" Reflector – Segmented, 36 Spain (90%), Mexico, USA 2009
Keck 1 10 m 394" Reflector – Segmented, 36USA Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii, USA 1993
6 m 238" Reflector1976
5.08 m 200" USA Palomar Observatory, California, USA 1948
2.54 m100" USA Mt. Wilson Observatory, California, USA 1917
1.83 m 72" 1845
Herschel's 40-foot telescope[1] 1.26 m 49.5" Observatory House, England 1789–1815
John Michell's Gregorian reflector[2] 75 cm 29.5" Yorkshire, Great Britain 1780–1789
Father Noel's Gregorian reflector 60 cm 23.5" 1761
James Short's Gregorian reflector 50 cm 19.5" Great Britain 1750
James Short's Gregorian reflector 38 cm 14" 1734
Christiaan Huygens 210 foot refractor 22 cm 8.5" 1686
Christiaan Huygens 170 foot refractor 20 cm 8" 1686
Christiaan Huygens 210 foot refractor 19 cm 7.5" 1686
Hooke's reflector [3] 18 cm 7" Great Britain 16??
Hevelius refractor 12 cm 4.7" 1645
Hevelius Scheiner's helioscope 6 cm 2.3" 1638
Galileo's 1620 telescope[4] 3.8 cm 1.5" 1620
Galileo's 1612 telescope 2.6 cm 1" 1612
Galileo's 1609 telescope 1.5 cm 0.62" 1609
Hans Lippershey's telescope ? cm .?" 1608

By historical significance

Chronological list of optical telescopes by historical significance, which reflects the overall technological progression and not only the primary mirror's diameter (as shown in table above).

Optical Telescopes (List by Historical Significance)
Name Type Significance Location Year
Inch
Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) 10.4 m 409" Reflector – Segmented, 36 World's largest 2009 ORM, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain 2009
Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) 8.4 m x 2
(22.8 m LBTI)[5]
464.5" glass mirror reflector – Multi-mirror (2)World's largest 2008 with Beam Combiner Mount Graham International Observatory, Arizona, USA 2005
9.2 m 362" Reflector – Segmented, 91First HET McDonald Observatory, USA 1997
Keck 1 10 m 394" Reflector – Segmented, 36World's largest 1993 Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii, USA 1993
Hubble (HST) 2.4 m 94" Largest Visible-light space based telescope 1990
6 m 238" World's largest 1976 1976
1.61 m 63" Largest solar telescope Kitt Peak National Obs., USA 1962
Hale Telescope (200 inch) 5.08 m 200" World's largest 1948 Palomar Observatory, California, USA 1948
1.22 m 48" World's largest Schmidt camera 1948 Palomar Observatory, California, USA 1948
George Ritchey 40-inch (1 m)[6] 102 cm 40" Flagstaff, Arizona, USA (Washington, D.C. until 1955)1934
Plaskett telescope[7] 1.83 m 72" Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Canada, USA 1918
2.54 m100" World's largest 1917 Mt. Wilson Observatory, California, USA 1917
1.524 m60" The first of the "modern" large research reflectors, designed and located for precision imaging.[8] [9] Mt. Wilson Observatory, California, USA 1908- style="background:#CEE0F2"Zeiss 1m reflector 100 cm 39.4″ Royal Obs., Uccle, Belgium -->
125 cm 49.21" refractor – achromat Largest refractor ever built, scrapped after Exhibition. Exposition Universelle (1900), Paris, France 1900–1901
A. A. Common's 60-inch Ealing reflector[10] 1.524 m 60" World's largest glass mirror reflector 1889, sold to Harvard 1904, moved to South Africa 1920s (Boyden Observatory) where it was largest telescope in the southern hemisphere. Ealing, Harvard College Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA;Boyden Observatory, South Africa 1889
Yerkes Refractor 102 cm 40" refractor – achromat Largest operational refractor Yerkes Observatory, Wisconsin, USA 1897
91.4 cm 36" A. A. Common Reflector, Great Britain / Lick Observatory, California, USA 1879
Great Melbourne Telescope[12] 1.22 m 48" Last large reflector with a speculum metal mirror, world's largest equatorially mounted telescope for several decades.[13] Melbourne Observatory, Melbourne, Australia 1868–1889
William Lassell 48-inch[14] 1.22 m 48" 1861–1865
1.83 m 72" World's largest 1845 1845–1908
William Lassell 24-inch[15] 61 cm 24" Liverpool, England1845
24 cm 9.6" refractor – achromat "...the first modern, achromatic, refracting telescope."[16] [17] 1824
Rosse 36-inch Telescope 91.4 cm 36" 1826
Herschel's 40-foot (126 cm d.) 1.26 m 49.5" World's largest 1789 Observatory House, England 1789–1815
Herschel's 20-foot (47.5 cm d.)[18] [19] 47.5 cm 18.5" Observatory House, England1782
Reverend John Michell's Gregorian reflector 75 cm 29.5" World's largest 1780 Yorkshire, Great Britain 1780–1789
Dollond Apochromatic Triplet[20] 9.53 cm 3.75" Refractor – apochromat First apochromatic triplet England 1763
Father Noel's Gregorian reflector 60 cm 23.5" World's largest 1761 Paris, France 1761
James Short's Gregorian reflector 50 cm 19.5" World's largest 1750 1750
James Short's Gregorian reflector 38 cm 14" World's largest 1734 1734
Chester Moore Hall's Doublet[21] 6.4 cm 2.5" Refractor – achromat First achromatic doublet Great Britain 1733
Hadley's Reflector[22] 15 cm 6" First parabolic newtonian Great Britain 1721
Christiaan Huygens 210 foot refractor 22 cm 8.5" World's largest 1686 1686
Christiaan Huygens 170 foot refractor 20 cm 8" World's largest 1689 1686
Christiaan Huygens 210 foot refractor 19 cm 7.5" World's largest 1686 1686
Hooke's reflector 18 cm 7" First GregorianGreat Britain 1674[23]
Newton's Reflector[24] 3.3 cm 1.3" First reflecting telescope England (mobile) 1668
Hevelius refractor 12 cm 4.7" World's largest 1645 1645
Hevelius Scheiner's helioscope 6 cm 2.3" 1638
Galileo's 1620 telescope 3.8 cm 1.5" World's largest 1620 1620
Galileo's 1612 telescope 2.6 cm 1" World's largest 1612 1612
Galileo's 1609 telescope 1.5 cm 0.62" World's largest 1609 1609
Hans Lippershey's telescope ? cm .?" World's first recorded telescope 1608
Legend
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See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Original mirror for William Herschel's 40 foot telescope, 1785 . Science & Society Picture Library . 22 November 2008.
  2. Book: King . The History of the Telescope . Courier Corporation . 1955 . 978-0-486-43265-6 . 91.
  3. Book: King . The History of the Telescope . Courier Corporation . 1955 . 978-0-486-43265-6 . 77.
  4. Note: Diameter of cardboard objective stop 2003JHA....34..369D . Dupré . S. . Galileo's telescope and celestial light SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) . Journal for the History of Astronomy . 0021-8286 . 34 . Part 4, No. 117 . 369–399 . 2003 . 10.1177/002182860303400402 . 118089506 .
  5. Web site: LBT First Binocular Light Press Release . 2013-07-24 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110725231212/http://medusa.as.arizona.edu/lbto/firstbinocularlight_press_release.htm . 2011-07-25 .
  6. Web site: Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station Celebrates First Half Century. 30 September 2005 .
  7. Web site: NRC-HIA: Public Outreach – DAO – 1.8 m Telescope . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090209174956/http://hia-iha.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/public/18_e.html . 2009-02-09 . 2010-01-10.
  8. Web site: mwoa.org – Observing with the 60-inch Telescope at Mount Wilson . 2011-08-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110807070131/http://www.mwoa.org/60-inch.html . 2011-08-07 . dead .
  9. http://www.mtwilson.edu/Simmons3.php mtwilson.edu-Building the 60-inch Telescope Article by Mike Simmons written in 1984 (and updated in 2008) for the Mount Wilson Observatory Association
  10. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A0CE3DC143AE733A25755C0A9629C946497D6CF New York Times "NEW HARVARD TELESCOPE.; Sixty-Inch Reflector, Biggest in the World, Being Set Up. "April 6, 1905, Thursday Page 9
  11. Web site: Mt. Hamilton Telescopes: CrossleyTelescope.
  12. Web site: Largest optical telescopes of the world.
  13. http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/321404/view sciencephoto.com, Great Melbourne Telescope, Casting a telescope mirror, 1866
  14. Web site: William Lassell (1799-1880) and the discovery of Triton, 1846.
  15. Web site: The Lassell Telescope.
  16. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1967AmJPh..35..344W Fraunhofer and the Great Dorpat Refractor, Waaland, J. Robert, American Journal of Physics, Volume 35, Issue 4, pp. 344–350 (1967)
  17. Web site: Fraunhoferi refraktor.
  18. Web site: William Herschel (1738-1822).
  19. Web site: Exhibitions.
  20. http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/gif/1948PA.....56...75K/0000083.000.html Title: The invention and early development of the achromatic telescope, Author: King, H. C., Journal: Popular Astronomy, Vol. 56, p. 75, Bibliographic Code: 1948PA.....56...75K, Page 83
  21. http://www.stjarnhimlen.se/bigtel/LargestTelescope.html Paul Schlyter, Largest optical telescopes of the world
  22. Web site: Amazing Space.
  23. Book: Lemaitre . Astronomical Optics and Elasticity Theory: Active Optics Methods . Springer Science & Business Media . 2008 . 978-3-540-68905-8 . 17.
  24. Book: Hall . Isaac Newton: Adventurer in Thought . Cambridge University Press . 1996 . 978-0-521-56669-8 . 67.

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