List of largest optical refracting telescopes
Here is a list of the largest optical refracting telescopes sorted by lens diameter. The largest refractor ever constructed was French. It was on display at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Its lens was stationary, prefigured so as to sag into the correct shape. The telescope was aimed by by the aid of a Foucault sidérostat, which is a movable plane mirror of diameter 6.56 feet, mounted in a large cast-iron frame. The horizontal tube was 197 feet long and the objective had 4.1 feet in diameter. The results were poor. When the year-long exposition was over, its builders were unable to sell it. It was ultimately broken up for scrap.
|
Observatory |
Lens diameter |
Focal length |
Built |
Comments |
| Paris 1900 Exposition (Paris, France) |
1.25 m |
57 m |
Fixed lens, total failure. |
|
| Yerkes Observatory (Williams Bay, Wisconsin, USA) |
1.02 m |
19.4 m |
|
|
| Lick Observatory (Mount Hamilton, California, USA) |
0.91 m |
17.6 m |
|
|
| Paris Observatory (Meudon, France) |
0.83 m + 0,62 m |
16.2 m |
Double telescope |
|
| Potsdam Observatory (Potsdam, Germany) |
0.80 m |
12.0 m |
|
|
| Côte d'Azur Observatory (Nice, France) |
0.76 m |
17.9 m |
|
|
| Allegheny Observatory (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA) |
0.76 m |
14.1 m |
|
|
| Royal Greenwich Observatory (Greenwich, London, England) |
0.71 m |
8.5 m |
|
|
| Vienna Observatory (Vienna, Austria) |
0.69 m |
10.5 m |
|
|
| Berlin Observatory (Berlin, Germany) |
0.68 m |
21 m |
|
|
| Johannesburg Observatory (Johannesburg, South Africa) |
0.67 m |
10.9 m |
|
|
| McCormick Observatory (Mount Jefferson, Virginia, USA) |
0.67 m |
9.9 m |
|
|
| Royal Greenwich Observatory (Greenwich, London, England) |
0.66 m |
6.8 m |
|
|
| U.S. Naval Observatory (Washington, DC, USA) |
0.66 m |
9.9 m |
|
|
| Mount Stromlo Observatory (Mount Stromlo, Australia) |
0.66 m |
10.8 m |
Previously located in South-Africa. |
