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| Herget Telescope <br> [[Cincinnati Observatory]] || [[Cincinnati]], [[Ohio]] || - || 40.64&nbsp;cm (16″) || || 1904 || by [[Alvan Clark & Sons]] || [[File:Cincinnati Observatory.JPG|50px]]
| Herget Telescope <br> [[Cincinnati Observatory]] || [[Cincinnati]], [[Ohio]] || - || 40.64&nbsp;cm (16″) || || 1904 || by [[Alvan Clark & Sons]] || [[File:Cincinnati Observatory.JPG|50px]]
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| [[Vatican Observatory]] || [[Castel Gandolfo]], Italy || - || 40 cm (16″) || 6.0 m || 1881 || by Zeiss || [[File:Vatican_Observatory_Zeiss_Visual_Refractor_Telescope.jpg|50px]]
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| Dorides Refractor <ref>http://www.hasi.gr/instruments/ast72</ref> <br> National Observatory of Athens || Athens, Greece || Athens, Greece || 40&nbsp;cm (16″) || 5,08 m || 1901 || by Gautier <ref>http://www.hasi.gr/makers/gautier-paul-ferdinand</ref> ||
| Dorides Refractor <ref>http://www.hasi.gr/instruments/ast72</ref> <br> National Observatory of Athens || Athens, Greece || Athens, Greece || 40&nbsp;cm (16″) || 5,08 m || 1901 || by Gautier <ref>http://www.hasi.gr/makers/gautier-paul-ferdinand</ref> ||

Revision as of 18:36, 4 August 2018

Here is a list of the largest optical refracting telescopes sorted by lens diameter and focal length.

The largest practical functioning refracting telescope is the Yerkes Observatory 40 inch (102 cm) refractor, used for astronomical and scientific observation for over a century.

Most are classical Great refractors, which used achromatic doublets on an equatorial mount. However, other large refractors include a 21st-century Solar telescope which is not directly comparable because it uses a single element non-achromatic lens, and the short-lived Great Paris Exhibition Telescope of 1900. It used a 78-inch (200 cm) Focault siderostat for aiming light into the Image-forming optical system part of the telescope, which had a 125 cm diameter lens. Using a siderostat incurs a reflective loss. Larger meniscus lenses have been used in later catadioptric telescopes which mix refractors and reflectors in the image-forming part of the telescope. As with reflecting telescopes, there was an ongoing struggle to balance cost with size, quality, and usefulness.

Name/Observatory Location at
debut 		Modern location name or fate Lens diameter Focal length Built Kommentare Image
Great Paris Exhibition Telescope of 1900 Paris 1900 Exposition Dismantled 1900 125 cm (49.21") 57 m (187 feet) 1900 Fixed lens, scrapped. Aimed via a 2m reflecting siderostat
Yerkes Observatory[1] Williams Bay, Wisconsin, USA - 102 cm (40″) 19.4 m (62′) 1897 Largest in current operation.[2]
Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope,
ORM		 La Palma,
Spain		 - 98 cm (39.37") 15 m 2002 Single element non-achromatic objective[3] combined with reflective Adaptive optics and a Schupmann corrector.
James Lick telescope
Lick Observatory		 Mount Hamilton, California, USA - 91 cm (36″) 17.6 m 1888  
Grande Lunette
Paris Observatory		 Meudon, France - 83 cm + 62 cm (32.67" + 24.40") 16.2 m 1891 Double telescope
Großer Refraktor
Astrophysical Observatory Potsdam		 Potsdam, Deutsches Kaiserreich Potsdam, Germany 80 cm + 50 cm (31.5"+19.5") 12.0 m 1899 Double telescope by Repsold and Sons, optics by Steinheil
Grande Lunette
Nice Observatory		 Nice, France since 1988 Côte d'Azur Observatory 77 cm (30.3″) [4][5] 17.9 m 1886 Bischoffscheim funded
William Thaw Telescope
Allegheny Observatory, University of Pittsburgh		 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA - 76 cm (30″) 14.1 m 1914 Brashear made, photographic[6]
Pulkovo observatory Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire Destroyed 76 cm (30″) 12.8 m (42 feet) 1885 Destroyed during WWII, only lens (made by Alvan Clark & Sons) survives.
28-inch Grubb Refractor
Royal Greenwich Observatory		 Greenwich, London, Great Britain - 71 cm (28″) 8.5 m 1894
Rolfscher Refraktor [7] Rathenow, Germany - 70 cm (27.6″) 20.8 m 1949 Single element non-achromatic objective with Schupmann corrector.
Großer Refraktor
Vienna Observatory		 Vienna, Austrian Empire Vienna, Austria 69 cm (27" ) 10.5 m 1880 Largest refractor in 1880, by Grubb [8]
Great Treptow Refractor
Treptow Observatory		 Berlin, Germany - 68 cm (26.77") 21 m 1896 renamed Archenhold Observatory 1946
Yale-Columbia Refractor
Yale Southern Station		 Johannesburg, Union of South Africa Relocated 1952 66 cm (26") 10.8 m 1925–1952 Yale-Columbia Refractor moved to Mount Stromlo Observatory in 1952, same telescope as following entry.
Yale-Columbia Refractor
Mount Stromlo Observatory		 Mount Stromlo, Australia Destroyed 2003 66 cm (26") 10.8 m 1952 Yale-Columbia Refractor - Previously located in South Africa. Relocated to Australia in 1952. Destroyed by bush fire on January 18, 2003.[9]
Leander McCormick Observatory Charlottesville, Virginia, USA - 66 cm (26" ) 9.9 m 1884 completed c. 1874, installed 1884
U.S. Naval Observatory Foggy Bottom Washington, DC, USA moved to Northwest, Washington, D.C., 1893 66 cm (26") 9.9 m 1873 Largest refractor in 1873. Alvan Clark & Sons mounting replaced with Warner & Swasey mounting in 1893.
Royal Greenwich Observatory Herstmonceux, Great Britain - 66 cm (26") 6.82 m 1896  
Llano del Hato National Astronomical Observatory Llano del Hato, Venezuela - 65 cm (25.6″) 10.6 m 1955
Belgrade Observatory [10] Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbia Belgrade, Serbia 65 cm (25.6″) 10.55 m 1932  Zeiss made lens, same as at Berlin Observatory
Hida Observatory Gifu, Japan - 65 cm (25.6″) 10.5 m 1972
65 cm Zeiss Refractor, Pulkovo observatory Germany[11] Saint Petersburg, Russia 65 cm (25.6″) 10.413 m 1954 War reparation from Germany[11] In Pulkovo since 1954.
Observatory History Museum Mitaka 65 cm Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan - 65 cm (25.6″) 10.21 m 1929 Carl Zeiss Jena
Berlin-Babelsberg Observatory
Berliner Sternwarte Babelsberg 		Berlin, Germany 65 cm (26 ") 10.12 m (33 ft) 1914 Berlin Observatory just moved to Potsdam-Babelsberg in 1913; Zeiss lens
Newall Refractor
National Observatory of Athens		 UK Athens, Greece since 1957 62.5 cm (24.5″) 8.86 m (29 ft) 1869 Built by Thomas Cooke for Robert Stirling Newall. First located at his estate; donated and relocated to Cambridge Observatory in 1889; donated to Athens Observatory and relocated to Mt. Penteli in Greece in 1957. Currently used only for educational purposes as part of the visitor center.
Craig telescope Wandsworth Common, London Dismantled 1857 61 cm (24″) 24.5 m (80 feet) 1852 Problem with lens figuring [12]
Sproul Observatory Pennsylvania, USA Dismantled July 2017 61 cm (24″) 11.0 m (36 ft) 1911 Currently under restoration to be re-installed in Northwest Arkansas[13]
Lowell Observatory Arizona, USA - 61 cm (24″) 9.75 m (32 ft) 1894 Alvan Clark & Sons telescope
Einstein Tower[14] Potsdam, Germany - 60 cm (23.6″) 14 m 1924 Tower telescope, fixed lens fed by a heliostat
Zeiss Double Refractor
Bosscha Observatory		 Bandung, Dutch East Indies Bandung, Indonesia 60 cm (23.6″) 10.7 m 1928
Der Große Refraktor (Great Refractor)
Hamburg Observatory		 Bergedorf, Germany - 60 cm (23.6″) 9 m 1911
Grubb Parsons Double Refractor Saltsjöbaden, Sweden - 60 + 50 cm
(23.6″ + 19.7")		 8.0 m 1930 Stockholms Observatory in Saltsjöbaden
Radcliffe Double Refractor
UCL Observatory		 Oxford, UK Mill Hill, London 60 + 45 cm
(23.6″ + 18")		 7.0 m 1901 Obtained from the Radcliffe Observatory and installed at UCLO (then known as "ULO") in 1938
Halstead Observatory Princeton, USA Roper Mountain Science Center,[15] Greenville, SC 58.4 cm (23″) 9.8 m (32 ft) 1881 by Alvan Clark & Sons
Chamberlin Observatory Colorado, USA - 50 cm (20″) 8.5 m (28 ft) 1891 First Light 1894
Chabot Observatory Oakland, California, USA (2000) 50 cm (20″) 8.5 m (28 ft) 1914 "Rachael" Warner & Swazey Company (Optics John A Brashear Company) Refurb in 2000 and moved to present location.
Van Vleck Observatory Connecticut, USA - 50 cm (20″) 8.4 m (27.5 ft) 1922
Carnegie Double Astrograph
Lick Observatory		 Mount Hamilton, California, USA not in service
threatened with removal		 50 cm (20″) 4.67 m (14 ft) 1941 F7.4
Imperial Observatory Straßburg, German Empire Strasbourg, France 48.5 cm (19.1″) 7 m (23 ft) 1880 [16] Then largest in German Empire
18½-in Dearborn Observatory Refractor Chicago, USA Evanston, USA 47 cm (18.5″) 1862 by Alvan Clark & Sons
Luneta 46
Observatório Nacional		 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 46 cm (18,4″) 9,7 m 1921 T. Cooke & Sons[17][18]
Wilder Observatory Amherst College, Amherst, MA, USA - 46 cm (18″) (25 ft) 1903 by Alvan Clark & Sons
Flower Observatory Philadelphia, USA - 46 cm (18″) 6.7 m (22.6 ft) 1896
Royal Observatory Cape Colony, British Empire Südafrika 46 cm (18″) 6.7 m (22.6 ft) 1897 [19]
Cooke-Zeiss Refractor,
Royal Observatory of Belgium[20]		 Uccle, Belgium - 45 cm (17.7″) 6.99 m 1891/1932 by Cooke & Sons, original 38 cm lens by Merz
replaced by 45 cm lens from Zeiss 1932
Gran Ecuatorial Gautier Telescope
La Plata Astronomical Observatory		 La Plata, Argentina - 43.3 cm (17″) 9,7 m 1894 Gautier
Brashear Refractor, Goodsell Observatory Northfield, Minnesota, USA - 41.15 cm (16.2″) 1890 by John Brashear
Herget Telescope
Cincinnati Observatory		 Cincinnati, Ohio - 40.64 cm (16″) 1904 by Alvan Clark & Sons
Vatican Observatory Castel Gandolfo, Italy - 40 cm (16″) 6.0 m 1881 by Zeiss
Dorides Refractor [21]
National Observatory of Athens		 Athens, Greece Athens, Greece 40 cm (16″) 5,08 m 1901 by Gautier [22]
Washburn Observatory Madison, Wisconsin, USA In regular use for education and general public. 39.5 cm (15.56″) 6.7 m (22.6 ft) 1881 by Alvan Clark & Sons
Dominion Observatory Refractor
Dominion Observatory		 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Moved to Helen Sawyer-Hogg Observatory (Canada Science and Technology Museum, Ottawa) in 1974 [23] 38.1 cm (15″) 571.5 cm 1905 Original achromat doublet by John Brashear replaced with apochomat triplet by Perkin-Elmer in 1958. Currently used for education and outreach.
Lunette Arago
Paris Observatory		 Paris, Frankreich - 38 cm (15") 9 m 1883 by Gautier and Henry brothers
Double Refractor
Fabra Observatory		 Barcelona, Spain - 38 cm + 38 cm (15" + 15″) 6 m + 4 m 1904 Double telescope
by Mailhat, Paris
Gran Ecuatorial Observatorio Astronómico Nacional Tacubaya, México - 38 cm (15") 4.8 m 1885 by Howard Grubb
Harvard Great Refractor
Harvard College Observatory [24]		 Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA - 38 cm (15″) 6.9 m 1847 largest telescope in America for 20 years [25]
Telescopio Amici
Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri		 Florence, Italy - 36 cm 5 m 1872 28 cm lens by G. B. Amici substituted by Zeiss lens in 1926. Currently used only for educational purposes.
Photographic Refractor
Leiden Observatory		 Leiden, Netherlands - 34 cm + 15  cm (13.4″ + 5.9") 524 cm 1897 Double telescope
by Gautier and Henry brothers
Astrograph
Vienna Observatory		 Vienna, Austrian Empire Vienna, Austria 34 cm + 26 cm (13.3″ + 10.2") 3.4 m + 3.4 m 1885 Double telescope
by Steinheil
Perth Astrograph,

Perth Observatory

Old Perth Observatory, Mount Eliza, Western Australia Perth Observatory, Bickley, Western Australia. Used for public education and outreach 33 cm (13") 3.34 m 1897 Designed and built by Howard Grubb & Co. Relocated to Bickley ~1966. The original telescope (both camera and guide scopes), mount and dome were re-erected at Bickley
Fitz-Clark Refractor
Allegheny Observatory, University of Pittsburgh		 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA - 32.02 cm (13") 4.62 1861 Fitz made, visual/photographic. In 1895 Established that Saturn's Rings to be made up of particles and not solid.[6]
H. Fitz-H.G. Fitz Refractor
Henry Ruthurfurd, Private Observatroy		 New York City, USA - 32.02 cm (13") 4.62 1864 Fitz made, visual/photographic. Started by Henry, finished by son Henry Giles
Bamberg Refractor
Urania Observatory (Berlin)		 Berlin-Moabit, Prussia Berlin, Germany 31.4 cm (12.36") 5 m 1889 then biggest in Prussia, moved to Insulaner Wilhelm-Foerster Observatory in 1963 [26]
H. Fitz 12.6" refractor

Detroit Observatory in Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 32 cm (12⅝") 508 cm (200") 1857 The telescopes were restored to functionality as part of the University of Michigan's 2009 International Year of Astronomy celebration. Viewing nights and open houses have been running since then.
Grubb refractor,

Keele Observatory

Oxford, England Keele University, England (since 1962),

in use for the public

31.0 cm

(12.25")

4.39 m 1874 Still awaiting the reunion with its 19th-century camera used in the Carte du Ciel project and to prove Einstein's general relativity theory during the 1919 solar eclipse.
Urania Sternwarte (Zurich) Zurich, Switzerland - 30 cm (12″) 5.05 m 1907 by Zeiss
Griffith Observatory Los Angeles - 30 cm (12″) 5.03 m 1931 by Zeiss
Clark-Refraktor[27]
Vienna Observatory		 Vienna, Austrian Empire Vienna, Austria 30 cm (12″) 5.06 m 1880 by Clark and Sons
Deutsches Museum Munich, Germany - 30 cm (12″) 5.0 m 1924 by Zeiss
Ladd Observatory,
Brown University		 Providence, Rhode Island, USA Still in use for instruction and public education 30 cm (12″) 12.0-inch (300 mm) 4.57 m (15 ft) 1891 Lens designed by Charles S. Hastings and made by John Brashear; telescope mount by George N. Saegmuller
Irving Porter Church Memorial Telescope
Fuertes Observatory
Cornell University		 Ithaca, New York Still used for instruction and public outreach. 30 cm (12″) 4.57 m (15 ft) 1922 Optics by John Brashear, mounting by Warner & Swasey.
Jewett Observatory Pullman, Washington, USA Used for instruction and pleasure 30 cm (12") 4.57 m (15') Assembled from older parts 1953 [28] Alvan Clark & Sons
Silesian Planetarium and Astronomical Observatory Katowice/Chorzów, Silesia, Poland 30 cm (12")[29] 4.5 m 1955 Largest and oldest Planetarium and Astronomical Observatory in Poland.[30] The 3rd largest in Eastern Europe (east of Germany), after Pulkovo Observatory in Saint Petersburg, Russia and Belgrade Observatory in Belgrade, Serbia
University of Illinois Observatory Urbana, Illinois, USA Used for instruction and pleasure 30 cm (12″) 4.57 m (15 ft) 1896 by John Brashear, National Historic Landmark, still used for instruction
Mitchell Telescope
Cincinnati Observatory		 Cincinnati, Ohio, USA - 28 cm (11″) 1843 Merz & Mahler; Oldest professional telescope still used weekly by the public[31]
Brashear Refractor
Nicholas E. Wagman Observatory		 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA - 28 cm (11″) 1910 John Brashear, Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh [32]
Great Refractor
Kuffner Observatory		 Vienna, Austria - 27 cm + 15.6 cm
(10.6″ + 6.1")		 350 cm + 294 cm 1884 + 1890 Double telescope
by Repsold and Sons, optics by Steinheil
Repsold Refractor (10-duims)
Leiden Observatory		 Leiden, Netherlands - 26.6 cm (10.5″) 399,5 cm 1885 Repsold and Sons, optics by Alvan Clark & Sons
Hume Cronyn Memorial Observatory
Named in memory of Hume Blake Cronyn		 University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario, Canada		 - 25.4 cm (10″) 4.37 m (172") 1940 Built by Perkin Elmer Corp.
Second largest refractor in Canada. Continues as Canada's oldest public astronomy venue.
Mills Observatory Dundee, Scotland (1951) 25 cm (10″)   1871 by T. Cooke & Sons. Training telescope at St. Andrews 1938-1951
Coats Observatory Paisley, Scotland (1898) 25 cm (10″)   1898 by Howard Grubb. Replaced 5" refractor by Thomas Cooke, installed in 1883.
Blackett Observatory Marlborough College
Wiltshire, England		 - 25cm (10")   1860 by Thomas Cooke. -
Quito Astronomical Observatory Quito La Alameda park 24 cm 1875 An operational 1875 Merz Telescopes and one of the Oldest Observatories in South America, founded in 1873.
Fraunhofer-Refraktor
Berlin Observatory		 Berlin-Kreuzberg, Deutsches Kaiserreich Moved 1913 to Munich, Germany 24 cm (9.6″) 4 m (13.4′) 1835 Used to discover Neptune; in Deutsches Museum, München since 1913[33]
Great Dorpat Refractor (Fraunhofer)
Dorpat/Tartu Observatory		 Dorpat, Governorate of Livonia Tartu, Estonia 24 cm (9.6″) 4 m (13.4′) 1824 "..the first modern, achromatic, refracting telescope." [34][35]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://astro.uchicago.edu/vtour/40inch/
  2. ^ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/653042/Yerkes-Observatory
  3. ^ solarphysics.kva.se The Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope "By using a lens of a single glass, excellent image quality is obtained through very narrow filters that isolate a single wavelength or color." Archived 2008-06-16 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ The Observatory, "Large Telescopes", Page 248
  5. ^ British university observatories, 1772-1939 By Roger Hutchins;page 252
  6. ^ a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2009-03-30. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ http://www.rathenow.de/Brachymedialfernrohr.613.0.html
  8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2009-08-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ Mount Stromlo Observatory brochure, page 12, The 26" Yale-Columbia Refractor, Australian National University, 2004, accessed 19 April 2008
  10. ^ http://www.aob.bg.ac.rs/
  11. ^ a b Journal for the history of astronomy vol. 28, pt. 2, p. 177 (1997), Title: Book Review: Pulkovo / St. Petersburg : Spuren der Sterne und der Zeiten : Geschichte der russischen Hauptsternwarte / Peter Lang, New York, 1995, Bibliographic Code: 1997JHA....28..177H
  12. ^ http://www.craig-telescope.co.uk/
  13. ^ Large telescope moves to Northwest Arkansas to further STEM recruitment goals
  14. ^ http://www.aip.de/de/forschung/forschungsschwerpunkt-kmf/cosmic-magnetic-fields/sonnenphysik/optische-sonnenphysik/einsteinturm/telescope
  15. ^ http://www.ropermountain.org/Observatory/observatory.shtml
  16. ^ http://chestofbooks.com/crafts/scientific-american/Scientific-American-Reference-Book/The-Large-Refractors-Of-The-World.html
  17. ^ Harper, W. E. (1929). "List of Refracting and Reflecting Telescopes". Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. 23. Royal Astronomical Society of Canada: 351–355. Bibcode:1929JRASC..23..351H. Retrieved 25 January 2017. See page 352.
  18. ^ Taylor, E. Wilfred; Wilson, J. Simms; Maxwell, P. D. Scott. At the Sign of the Orrery: The Origins of the Firm of Cooke, Troughton and Simms, Ltd. (Not dated, no publisher given.) See page 49.
  19. ^ Scientific American Reference Book. A Manual for the Office, Household and Shop Author Albert A. Hopkins, A. Russell Bond Publisher Munn & Company Year 1905 Copyright 1904, Munn & Company
  20. ^ http://astroequatoriales.free.fr/spip.php?article29
  21. ^ http://www.hasi.gr/instruments/ast72
  22. ^ http://www.hasi.gr/makers/gautier-paul-ferdinand
  23. ^ http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/whatson/hogg_observatory.cfm
  24. ^ http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/hco/grref.html
  25. ^ http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations//groundup/lesson/scopes/harvard/index.php
  26. ^ http://www.wfs.be.schule.de/pages/hist/Bamberge.html
  27. ^ http://bibliothek.univie.ac.at/sammlungen/objekt_des_monats/011981.html
  28. ^ http://astro.wsu.edu/observatory.html
  29. ^ http://www.planetarium.edu.pl/oferta.htm
  30. ^ http://www.planetarium.chorzow.net.pl/onas_eng.htm
  31. ^ http://www.cincinnatiobservatory.org/history.html
  32. ^ http://3ap.org/>
  33. ^ http://bdaugherty.tripod.com/astronomy/berlin.html#GALLE
  34. ^ "Fraunhofer and the Great Dorpat Refractor". American Journal of Physics. 35: 344. 1967. Bibcode:1967AmJPh..35..344W. doi:10.1119/1.1974076. {{cite journal}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |authors= (help)
  35. ^ http://www.obs.ee/obs/instrumendid/fr.htm

Further reading

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