List of largest optical telescopes in the 19th century

List of largest optical telescopes in the 19th century, are listings of what were, for the time period of the 19th century large optical telescopes. See List of largest optical telescopes in the 20th century for the 1900s. The list includes various refractor and reflector that were active some time between about 1799 to 1901.

Reflectors & Refractors

Early reflectors using speculum metal had some of the record-breaking apertures of the day, but not necessarily high performance. Starting in the 1860s metal coated glass ('Silver on glass') reflector telescopes proved more durable, for example the Crossley Reflector, which continued to be used and upgraded even into the 21st century. Telescopes with lenses, especially achromatic doublets were popular in the 19th century. (see also Great Refractor)

(100 cm equals 1 meter)

Legend
Name/Observatory Aperture
cm (in) 		Type Location then (Original Site) Extant*
Leviathan of Parsonstown 183 cm (72″) reflector - metal Birr Castle; Ireland
 1845–1908
A.A. Common 60-inch[1] 152.4 cm (60″) reflector - glass England 1891-1904[1]
Herschel 40-foot (1.26 m diam.)[2] 126 cm(49.5″) reflector - metal Observatory House; England 1789–1815
Great Paris Exhibition Telescope of 1900 125 cm (49.21") achromat - siderostat Paris 1900 Exposition, France 1900–1901
Great Melbourne Telescope[3] 122 cm(48″) reflector - metal Melbourne Observatory, Australia 1878–1889
William Lassell 48-inch[4] 122 cm(48″) reflector - metal Malta 1861–1865
National Observatory, Paris 122 cm (48″) reflector Paris, France 1875-1943[1]
Yerkes Observatory[5] 102 cm (40″) achromat Williams Bay, Wisconsin, USA 1897
James Lick telescope, Lick Observatory 91 cm (36″) achromat Mount Hamilton, California, USA 1888
Crossley Reflector[6] 91.4 cm(36″) reflector - glass Lick Observatory, USA 1896
A.A. Common Reflector 91.4 cm(36″) reflector - glass Great Britain 1880–1896
Rosse 36-inch Telescope 91.4 cm(36″) reflector - metal Birr Castle; Ireland 1826
Grande Lunette, Paris Observatory 83 cm + 62 cm
(32.67" + 24.40") 		achromat x2 Meudon, France 1891
Potsdam Große Refraktor
Astrophysical Observatory Potsdam 		80 cm + 50 cm
(31.5"+29.5")		 achromat x2 Potsdam, Deutsches Kaiserreich 1899
Focault 80 cm, Marseille Observatory [7] 80 cm (31.5") reflector-glass Marseille, France 1864
Grand Lunette Biscoffscheim, Nice Observatory 77 cm (30.3″) achromat Nice, France[8][9] 1886
Pulkovo observatory 76 cm (30″) achromat Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire 1885
Royal Observatory, Greenwich 76.2 cm (30″) reflector Greenwich, England 1897[1]
28-inch Grubb Refractor Royal Greenwich Observatory 71 cm (28″) achromat Greenwich, London, Great Britain 1894
Harvard College Observatory 71 cm (28″) reflector United States 1889[1]
Grosse Refractor, Vienna Observatory 69 cm (26″) achromat Vienna, Austrian Empire 1880[10]
Great Treptow Refractor, Treptow Observatory 68 cm (26.77") achromat Berlin, Germany 1896
McCormick Observatory 67 cm (26.37") achromat Charlottesville, Virginia, USA 1883
U.S. Naval Observatory 66 cm (26") achromat Washington, DC, USA 1873
Quito Astronomical Observatory[11] 66 cm (24") Great refractor Quito, Ecuador 1875
Royal Greenwich Observatory 66 cm (26") achromat Herstmonceux, Great Britain 1896
Lowell Observatory 61 cm (24″) achromat Arizona, USA 1896
Craig telescope 61 cm (24″) achromat Wandsworth Common, London[12] 1852–1857
William Lassell 24-inch[13] 61 cm(24″) reflector - metal Liverpool, England 1845
Royal Observatory, Edinburgh 61 cm (24″) reflector Greenwich, England 1872[1]
Daramona 24″ reflector[14] 61 cm (24″) reflector - glass Streete, Ireland 1881-1971
Radcliffe Double Refractor, Radcliffe Observatory 60/45 cm
(23.6″/18") 		achromat x2 Oxford, UK 1901
Halstead Observatory 58.4 cm (23″) achromat Princeton, USA 1881
Chamberlin Observatory 50 cm (20″) achromat Colorado, USA 1891
Nasymth 20″ 50 cm (20″) reflector - metal United Kingdom[15] 1842
Imperial Observatory (Straßburg) 48.5 cm (19.1″) achromat Straßburg/Strasbourg, German Empire/France 1880[16]
Herschel 20-foot (0.475 m diam.)[17][18] 47.5 cm (18.5″) reflector - metal Observatory House; England 1782-?
18½-in Dearborn Observatory Refractor 47 cm (18.5″) achromat Chicago (1862–1893), Evanston, Illinois (1893), USA 1862
Flower Observatory 46 cm (18″) achromat Philadelphia, USA 1896
Royal Observatory 46 cm (18″) achromat Cape Colony, British Empire (South Africa) 1897 [19]
Harvard Great Refractor, Harvard College Observatory[20] 38 cm (15″) achromat Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA 1847
Armagh 15- inch Grubb Reflector[21] 38 cm (15″) reflector - metal Armagh Observatory, Northern Ireland 1835[22]
Markree Observatory 13.3″ Grubb/Cauchoix[22] 34 cm (13.3″) refractor County Sligo, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1834[22]
Bamberg Refractor Urania Observatory (Berlin) 31.4 cm (12.36") achromat Berlin-Moabit, Prussia / Berlin, Germany 1889-1963[23]
Grubb refractor at Keele Observatory 31 cm (12.25") achromat Oxford, England 1874
University of Illinois Observatory 30 cm (12″) achromat Urbana, Illinois, USA 1896
Great refractor of Amici (Amici I), Florence Observatory La Specola 28.4 cm (11.2″) achromat Florence, Italy 1841
Merz und Mahler (Mitchell cupola), Cincinnati Observatory 28 cm (11″) achromat Cincinnati, Ohio, USA 1843
Repsold Refractor (10-duims), Leiden Observatory 26.6 cm (10.5″) achromat Leiden, The Netherlands 1885
Mills Observatory 25 cm (10″) achromat United Kingdom 1871
Fraunhofer-Refraktor Berlin Observatory 24 cm (9.6″) achromat Berlin-Kreuzberg, Deutsches Kaiserreich (1835–1913)[24] 1835
Great Dorpat Refractor (Fraunhofer) Dorpat/Tartu Observatory 24 cm (9.6″) achromat Dorpat, Governorate of Livonia/ Tartu, Estonia 1824[25][26]
Merz Refractor (6-duims), Leiden Observatory 16.6 cm (6.5″) achromat Leiden, The Netherlands 1838
Shuckburgh telescope 10 cm (4.1″) achromat Warwickshire, England 1791–1923

* (First light or Build Completion to Inactive (Retired) or Deconstruction)

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Observatory, "Large Telescopes", Page 250
  2. ↑ "Original mirror for William Herschel's 40 foot telescope, 1785". Science & Society Picture Library. Retrieved 22 November 2008.
  3. ↑ http://stjarnhimlen.se/bigtel/LargestTelescope.html
  4. ↑ http://www.mikeoates.org/lassell/lassell_by_a_chapman.htm
  5. ↑ http://astro.uchicago.edu/vtour/40inch/
  6. ↑ http://www.ucolick.org/public/telescopes/crossley.html
  7. ↑ Foucault's invention of the silvered-glass reflecting telescope and the history of his 80-cm reflector at the observatoire de Marseille
  8. ↑ The Observatory, "Large Telescopes", Page 248
  9. ↑ British university observatories, 1772-1939 By Roger Hutchins;page 252
  10. ↑ http://www.flamsteed.info/fasother6_files/page0006.htm
  11. ↑ One of the Oldest Observatories in South America is the Quito Astronomical Observatory
  12. ↑ http://www.craig-telescope.co.uk/
  13. ↑ http://www.mikeoates.org/lassell/telescope.htm
  14. ↑ Artdeciel, Daramona telescope
  15. ↑ Stargazer: The Life and Times of the Telescope, By Fred Watson, page 212
  16. ↑ http://chestofbooks.com/crafts/scientific-american/Scientific-American-Reference-Book/The-Large-Refractors-Of-The-World.html
  17. ↑ http://www.maa.clell.de/Messier/E/Xtra/Bios/wherschel.html
  18. ↑ http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal111/universe/etu_a_herschel.htm
  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://www.cfa.harvard.edu/hco/grref.html
  21. ↑ http://www.arm.ac.uk/history/instruments/Grubb-15inch.html
  22. 1 2 3 Watson, Fred - Stargazer: The Life and Times of the Telescope (2006) - Page 200 (Google Books 2010)
  23. ↑ http://www.wfs.be.schule.de/pages/hist/Bamberge.html
  24. ↑ http://bdaugherty.tripod.com/astronomy/berlin.html#GALLE
  25. ↑ 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)
  26. ↑ http://www.obs.ee/obs/instrumendid/fr.htm

External links

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