List of largest optical telescopes historically

Short description: World's largest telescopes

People flock to the new David Dunlap Observatory in the 1930s, the second largest reflecting telescope in the world going by a mirror diameter of 74 inches (about 1.9 meters) at that time.

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 and gather light (especially important in astronomy).

## Contents

* 1 By overall aperture
* 2 By historical significance
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## 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 | Aperture | Type | Built by | Location | Year

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Meter | Inch
Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) | 10.4 m | 409" | Reflector – Segmented, 36 | Spain (90%), Mexico, USA | ORM, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain | 2009
Keck 1 | 10 m | 394" | Reflector – Segmented, 36 | USA | Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii, USA | 1993
BTA-6 | 6 m | 238" | Reflector | Soviet Union | Zelenchukskaya, Caucasus | 1976
Hale Telescope | 5.08 m | 200" | Reflector | USA | Palomar Observatory, California, USA | 1948
Hooker Telescope | 2.54 m | 100" | Reflector | USA | Mt. Wilson Observatory, California, USA | 1917
Leviathan of Parsonstown | 1.83 m | 72" | Reflector – metal mirror | William Parsons | Birr Castle, Ireland | 1845
Herschel's 40-foot telescope[1] | 1.26 m | 49.5" | Reflector – metal mirror | William Herschel | Observatory House, England | 1789–1815
John Michell's Gregorian reflector[2] | 75 cm | 29.5" | Reflector – Gregorian | John Michell | Yorkshire, Great Britain | 1780–1789
Father Noel's Gregorian reflector[2] | 60 cm | 23.5" | Reflector – Gregorian | Father Noel | Paris, France | 1761
James Short's Gregorian reflector | 50 cm | 19.5" | Reflector – Gregorian | James Short | Great Britain | 1750
James Short's Gregorian reflector | 38 cm | 14" | Reflector – Gregorian | James Short | Great Britain | 1734
Christiaan Huygens 210 foot refractor | 22 cm | 8.5" | Refractor – Aerial telescope | Christiaan Huygens | Netherlands | 1686
Christiaan Huygens 170 foot refractor | 20 cm | 8" | Refractor – Aerial telescope | Christiaan Huygens | Netherlands | 1686
Christiaan Huygens 210 foot refractor | 19 cm | 7.5" | Refractor – Aerial telescope | Christiaan Huygens | Netherlands | 1686
Hooke's reflector[3] | 18 cm | 7" | Reflector | Robert Hooke | Great Britain | 16??
Hevelius refractor | 12 cm | 4.7" | Refractor | Johannes Hevelius | Gdańsk, Poland | 1645
Hevelius Scheiner's helioscope | 6 cm | 2.3" | Refractor | Johannes Hevelius | Gdańsk, Poland | 1638
Galileo's 1620 telescope[4] | 3.8 cm | 1.5" | Refractor | Galileo Galilei | Italy | 1620
Galileo's 1612 telescope[4] | 2.6 cm | 1" | Refractor | Galileo Galilei | Italy | 1612
Galileo's 1609 telescope[4] | 1.5 cm | 0.62" | Refractor | Galileo Galilei | Italy | 1609
Hans Lippershey's telescope | ? cm | .?" | Refractor | Hans Lippershey | Middelburg, Netherlands | 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 | Aperture | Type | Significance | Location | Year

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Meter | Inch
James Webb Space Telescope | 6.5 m | 256" | Beryllium mirror reflector – Segmented, 18 | Largest space based telescope | Sun–Earth L2 orbit | 2021
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
Hobby-Eberly Telescope | 9.2 m | 362" | Reflector – Segmented, 91 | First HET | McDonald Observatory, USA | 1997
Keck 1 | 10 m | 394" | Reflector – Segmented, 36 | World's largest 1993 | Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii, USA | 1993
Hubble (HST) | 2.4 m | 94" | glass mirror reflector | Largest Visible-light space based telescope | Low Earth orbit NASA\+ ESA | 1990
BTA-6 | 6 m | 238" | glass mirror reflector | World's largest 1976 | Zelenchukskaya, Russia | 1976
McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope | 1.61 m | 63" | glass mirror reflector | Largest solar telescope | Kitt Peak National Obs., USA | 1962
Hale Telescope (200 inch) | 5.08 m | 200" | glass mirror reflector | World's largest 1948 | Palomar Observatory, California, USA | 1948
Samuel Oschin telescope | 1.22 m | 48" | glass mirror reflector – Schmidt camera | World's largest Schmidt camera 1948 | Palomar Observatory, California, USA | 1948
George Ritchey 40-inch (1 m)[6] | 102 cm | 40" | glass mirror reflector | First large Ritchey-Chrétien | Flagstaff, Arizona, USA (Washington, D.C. until 1955) | 1934
Plaskett telescope[7] | 1.83 m | 72" | glass mirror reflector | Designed as world's largest but beaten by the 100-inch Hooker telescope | Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Canada, USA | 1918
Hooker Telescope | 2.54 m | 100" | glass mirror reflector | World's largest 1917 | Mt. Wilson Observatory, California, USA | 1917
Hale 60-Inch Telescope | 1.524 m | 60" | glass mirror reflector | The first of the "modern" large research reflectors, designed and located for precision imaging.[8][9] | Mt. Wilson Observatory, California, USA | 1908
Great Paris Exhibition Telescope of 1900 | 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" | glass mirror reflector | 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
A. A. Common's 36 inch Ealing reflector | 91.4 cm | 36" | glass mirror reflector | First to prove fainter than naked eye astrophotography;[11] sold, became Crossley Reflector | A. A. Common Reflector, Great Britain / Lick Observatory, California, USA | 1879
Great Melbourne Telescope[12] | 1.22 m | 48" | speculum metal mirror reflector | Last large reflector with a speculum metal mirror, world's largest equatorially mounted telescope for several decades.[13] | Melbourne Observatory, Melbourne, Australia | 1868–1889
Foucault's telescope  | 0.8 m  | 31.5"  | glass mirror reflector | First metal coated glass mirror telescope  | Marseille Observatory, France  | 1862
William Lassell 48-inch[14] | 1.22 m | 48" | speculum metal mirror reflector |  | Malta | 1861–1865
Rosse telescope: Leviathan of Parsonstown | 1.83 m | 72" | metal – speculum metal mirror reflector | World's largest 1845 | Birr Castle, Ireland | 1845–1908
William Lassell 24-inch[15] | 61 cm | 24" | speculum metal mirror reflector |  | Liverpool, England | 1845
Great Dorpat Refractor (Fraunhofer)
Dorpat/Tartu Observatory | 24 cm | 9.6" | refractor – achromat | "...the first modern, achromatic, refracting telescope."[16][17] | Dorpat, Governorate of Estonia | 1824
Rosse 36-inch Telescope | 91.4 cm | 36" | speculum metal mirror reflector |  | Birr Castle, Ireland | 1826
Herschel's 40-foot (126 cm d.)[1] | 1.26 m | 49.5" | speculum metal mirror reflector | World's largest 1789 | Observatory House, England | 1789–1815
Herschel's 20-foot (47.5 cm d.)[18][19] | 47.5 cm | 18.5" | speculum metal mirror reflector |  | Observatory House, England | 1782
Reverend John Michell's Gregorian reflector[2] | 75 cm | 29.5" | speculum metal mirror – Gregorian reflector | 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[20]
Father Noel's Gregorian reflector[2] | 60 cm | 23.5" | speculum metal mirror – Gregorian reflector | World's largest 1761 | Paris, France | 1761
James Short's Gregorian reflector | 50 cm | 19.5" | speculum metal mirror – Gregorian reflector | World's largest 1750 | Great Britain | 1750
James Short's Gregorian reflector | 38 cm | 14" | speculum metal mirror – Gregorian reflector | World's largest 1734 | Great Britain | 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" | speculum metal mirror reflector | First parabolic newtonian | Great Britain | 1721
Christiaan Huygens 210 foot refractor | 22 cm | 8.5" | Refractor – Aerial telescope | World's largest 1686 | Netherlands | 1686
Christiaan Huygens 170 foot refractor | 20 cm | 8" | Refractor – Aerial telescope | World's largest 1689 | Netherlands | 1686
Christiaan Huygens 210 foot refractor | 19 cm | 7.5" | Refractor – Aerial telescope | World's largest 1686 | Netherlands | 1686
Hooke's reflector[3] | 18 cm | 7" | speculum metal mirror – Gregorian reflector | First Gregorian | Great Britain | 1674[23]
Newton's Reflector[24] | 3.3 cm | 1.3" | speculum metal mirror reflector | First reflecting telescope | England (mobile) | 1668
Hevelius refractor | 12 cm | 4.7" | Refractor | World's largest 1645 | Gdańsk (Danzig), Poland | 1645
Hevelius Scheiner's helioscope | 6 cm | 2.3" | Refractor | World's largest 1638 & First Equatorial[21] | Gdańsk (Danzig), Poland | 1638
Galileo's 1620 telescope | 3.8 cm[4] | 1.5" | Refractor | World's largest 1620 | Italy | 1620
Galileo's 1612 telescope | 2.6 cm[4] | 1" | Refractor | World's largest 1612 | Italy | 1612
Galileo's 1609 telescope | 1.5 cm[4] | 0.62" | Refractor | World's largest 1609 | Italy | 1609
Hans Lippershey's telescope | ? cm | .?" | Refractor | World's first recorded telescope | Netherlands | 1608
Legend

Segmented Mirror (Mosaic) Glass Reflector
Glass Reflector (Metal coating on glass mirror)
Reflector (Metal mirror)
Refractor (Lens) or other

## See also

* History of the telescope
* Lists of telescopes
* List of optical telescopes
* List of largest optical reflecting telescopes
* List of largest optical refracting telescopes
* List of largest optical telescopes in the 20th century
* List of largest optical telescopes in the 19th century
* List of largest optical telescopes in the 18th century
* List of space telescopes
* List of telescope types
* Microscope (For magnifying very small things)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Original mirror for William Herschel's 40 foot telescope, 1785". Science & Society Picture Library. http://www.ssplprints.com/image.php?imgref=10408672. Retrieved 22 November 2008.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 King, Henry C. (1955). The History of the Telescope. Courier Corporation. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-486-43265-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=KAWwzHlDVksC&pg=PA91.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 King, Henry C. (1955). The History of the Telescope. Courier Corporation. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-486-43265-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=KAWwzHlDVksC&pg=PA77.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Note: Diameter of cardboard objective stop Dupré, S. (2003). "Galileo's telescope and celestial light SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)". Journal for the History of Astronomy 34 (Part 4, No. 117): 369–399. doi:10.1177/002182860303400402. ISSN 0021-8286. Bibcode: 2003JHA....34..369D.
5. ↑ "LBT First Binocular Light Press Release". Archived from the original on 2011-07-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20110725231212/http://medusa.as.arizona.edu/lbto/firstbinocularlight_press_release.htm. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
6. ↑ "Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station Celebrates First Half Century". 30 September 2005. http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=17931.
7. ↑ "NRC-HIA: Public Outreach – DAO – 1.8 m Telescope". Archived from the original on 2009-02-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20090209174956/http://hia-iha.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/public/18_e.html. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
8. ↑ "mwoa.org – Observing with the 60-inch Telescope at Mount Wilson". http://www.mwoa.org/60-inch.html.
9. ↑ 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. ↑ New York Times "NEW HARVARD TELESCOPE.; Sixty-Inch Reflector, Biggest in the World, Being Set Up. "April 6, 1905, Thursday Page 9
11. ↑ "Mt. Hamilton Telescopes: CrossleyTelescope". http://www.ucolick.org/public/telescopes/crossley.html.
12. ↑ "Largest optical telescopes of the world". http://stjarnhimlen.se/bigtel/LargestTelescope.html.
13. ↑ sciencephoto.com, Great Melbourne Telescope, Casting a telescope mirror, 1866
14. ↑ "William Lassell (1799-1880) and the discovery of Triton, 1846". http://www.mikeoates.org/lassell/lassell_by_a_chapman.htm.
15. ↑ "The Lassell Telescope". http://www.mikeoates.org/lassell/telescope.htm.
16. ↑ Fraunhofer and the Great Dorpat Refractor, Waaland, J. Robert, American Journal of Physics, Volume 35, Issue 4, pp. 344–350 (1967)
17. ↑ "Fraunhoferi refraktor". http://www.obs.ee/obs/instrumendid/fr.htm.
18. ↑ "William Herschel (1738-1822)". http://www.maa.clell.de/Messier/E/Xtra/Bios/wherschel.html.
19. ↑ "Exhibitions". http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal111/universe/etu_a_herschel.htm.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 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. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Paul Schlyter, Largest optical telescopes of the world
22. ↑ "Amazing Space". http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations//groundup/lesson/scopes/hadley/index.php.
23. ↑ Lemaitre, Gérard René (2008). Astronomical Optics and Elasticity Theory: Active Optics Methods. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 17. ISBN 978-3-540-68905-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=kQqlIsagKOQC&pg=PA17.
24. ↑ Hall, A. Rupert (1996). Isaac Newton: Adventurer in Thought. Cambridge University Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-521-56669-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=7R8LsvMcUioC.

## External links

* Largest optical telescopes of the world
* List of large reflecting telescopes
* The World's Largest Optical Telescopes
* Selected largest telescopes
* The Historical Growth of Telescope Aperture (2003)

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