This is a list of the largest optical telescopes in North America.
21st century
A list of optical telescopes located in North America by aperture.
Refractors
Some of the big traditional refractors (telescope with lens) in North America:
Name/Observatory | Location | Lens diameter | Focal length | Built | Comments | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yerkes Observatory[6] | Williams Bay, Wisconsin, USA | 102 cm (40") | 19.4 m (62′) | 1897 | Largest in current operation[7] | |
James Lick telescope Lick Observatory | Mount Hamilton, California, USA | 91 cm (36") | 17.6 m | 1888 | ||
William Thaw Telescope Allegheny Observatory | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA | 76 cm (30") | 14.1 m | 1914 | Brashear made, photographic[8] | |
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. | |
Sproul Observatory | Pennsylvania, USA | 61 cm (24") | 11.0 m (36 ft) | 1911 | Currently under restoration to be re-installed in Northwest Arkansas[9] | |
Lowell Observatory | Arizona, USA | 61 cm (24") | 9.75 m (32 ft) | 1894 | Alvan Clark & Sons telescope |
Biggest telescopes in 1950
Optical telescopes only
Name / Observatory |
Image Out |
Image In |
Aperture | First Light |
Nation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hale Telescope Palomar Obs. |
200 inch 508 cm |
1949 | USA | ||
Hooker Telescope Mount Wilson Obs. |
100 inch 254 cm |
1917 | USA | ||
McDonald Obs. 82 inch i.e. Otto Struve Telescope |
82 inch 208 cm |
1939 | USA | ||
David Dunlap Observatory | 74 inch 188 cm |
1935 | Canada | ||
Plaskett telescope Dominion Astrophysical Obs. |
72 inch 182 cm |
1918 | Canada | ||
69-inch Perkins Telescope[10] Perkins Observatory | 69 inch 175 cm | 1931–1964 | USA | ||
Wyeth 61" reflector[11] Oak Ridge Observatory | 61 inch 155 cm | 1933–2005[12] | USA | ||
60 inch Hale Mount Wilson Observatory | 60 inch 152.4 cm | 1908 | USA | ||
Biggest telescopes in 1900
Name/Observatory | Aperture cm (in) |
Type | Location then (Original Site) | Extant* |
---|---|---|---|---|
Yerkes Observatory[6] | 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[13] | 91.4 cm(36") | reflector – glass | Lick Observatory, California, USA | 1896 |
Harvard College Observatory | 71 cm (28") | reflector | Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA | 1889[14] |
McCormick Observatory | 67 cm (26.37") | achromat | Charlottesville, Virginia, USA | 1883 |
U.S. Naval Observatory | 66 cm (26") | achromat | Washington, DC, USA | 1873 |
Lowell Observatory | 61 cm (24") | achromat | Arizona, USA | 1896 |
Halstead Observatory | 58.4 cm (23") | achromat | Princeton, USA | 1881 |
Chamberlin Observatory | 50 cm (20") | achromat | Colorado, USA | 1891 |
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 |
Harvard Great Refractor, Harvard College Observatory[15] | 38 cm (15") | achromat | Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA | 1847 |
Wellesley College Whitin Observatory 12-inch Fitz Jacob Campbell's 12 inch refractor[16] | 30 cm (12") | achromat | Massachusetts, USA New York, USA | 1900 1852 |
University of Illinois Observatory | 30 cm (12") | achromat | Urbana, Illinois, USA | 1896 |
Merz und Mahler (Mitchell cupola), Cincinnati Observatory | 28 cm (11") | achromat | Cincinnati, Ohio, USA | 1843 |
Fraunhofer Refractor, United States Naval Observatory (Foggy Bottom) | 24.4 cm (9.6") | achromat | Foggy Bottom, D.C., USA | 1844[17] |
Wesleyan University 6-inch Lerebours refractor[18] | 15.24 cm (6") | achromat | Connecticut, USA | 1836[18][19] |
Utzschneider & Fraunhofer Comet Seeker[20] | 10.2 cm (4") | acrhomat | Foggy Bottom, D.C., USA | 1843 |
Biggest telescopes in 1850
Some of the largest at observatories:
Name/Observatory | Aperture cm (in) |
Type | Location then (Original Site) | Extant* |
---|---|---|---|---|
Harvard Great Refractor, Harvard College Observatory[15] | 38 cm (15") | achromat | Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA | 1847 |
Merz und Mahler (Mitchell cupola), Cincinnati Observatory | 28 cm (11") | achromat | Cincinnati, Ohio, USA | 1843 |
West Point Observatory 9.75 inch Fitz equatorial | 24.77 cm (9.75") | achromat | West Point, USA | 1839[21] |
Fraunhofer Refractor, United States Naval Observatory (Foggy Bottom) | 24.4 cm (9.6") | achromat | Foggy Bottom, D.C., USA | 1844[17] |
Wesleyan University 6-inch Lerebours refractor[18] | 15.24 cm (6") | achromat | Connecticut, USA | 1836 |
Yale Dollond 5-inch, Yale College Observatory | 12.7 cm (5") | achromat | New Haven, Connecticut, USA | 1828[21] |
Utzschneider & Fraunhofer Comet Seeker[20] | 10.2 cm (4") | acrhomat | Foggy Bottom, D.C., USA | 1843 |
See also
References
- ↑ Day, Dwayne (2009-05-11). "Mirrors in the dark". The Space Review. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
- ↑ "Lowell Observatory – DCT status". Archived from the original on September 2, 2012.
- ↑ "The Mayall 4-Meter Telescope". Noao.edu. February 27, 1973. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
- ↑ John Pike. "Starfire". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
- ↑ "NASA Orbital Debris Observatory". Astro.ubc.ca. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
- 1 2 "The 40-inch". Archived from the original on 2009-02-25. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
- ↑ "Yerkes Observatory". Encyclopedia Britannica.
- ↑ "World's Biggest Refractors". Archived from the original on 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
- ↑ Large telescope moves to Northwest Arkansas to further STEM recruitment goals
- ↑ "History". Perkins Observatory. 1 August 1998. Archived from the original on 28 September 2006. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ↑ "Optical seti photographs". Archived from the original on 2010-06-27. Retrieved 2010-10-06.
- ↑ "Wyeth Reflector at Oak Ridge Observatory". Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
- ↑ "Mt. Hamilton Telescopes: CrossleyTelescope". www.ucolick.org. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
- ↑ "1914Obs....37..245H Page 250". Retrieved September 8, 2019.
- 1 2 "Harvard College Observatory: Great Refractor". www.cfa.harvard.edu. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
- ↑ "Fitz/Clark 12-in Refractor".
- 1 2 The General History of Astronomy. Cambridge University Press. February 11, 1900. ISBN 9780521242561 – via Google Books.
- 1 2 3 "History, Astronomy – Wesleyan University".
- ↑ Slipher, E. C. (1927). "Photographic and visual observations of Mars in 1926 (Abstract)". Popular Astronomy. 35: 210. Bibcode:1927PA.....35S.210S.
- 1 2 The General History of Astronomy. Cambridge University Press. 1900. ISBN 9780521242561.
- 1 2 Jones, Bessie Judith (Zaban); Gifford, Lyle (1971). The Harvard College Observatory: The First Four Directorships, 1839–1919. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674374607.
External links
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