List of largest optical telescopes in the 19th century

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This list of largest optical telescopes in the 19th century includes what were large optical telescopes for their time. See List of largest optical telescopes in the 20th century for later telescopes. The list includes various refractors and reflectors that were active at some time between about 1799 to 1901.

Contents

The main material used early on for reflecting telescope mirrors was speculum metal, which reflected only about two-thirds of the incident light, and which tarnished, requiring maintenance. Two-element refracting telescopes were extensively used in 19th century observatories despite their smaller apertures than metal, and later glass, mirror telescopes.

The technology for silver-coating glass mirrors, more reflective than speculum metal and not subject to tarnishing, was developed in the mid-19th century but was slow to be adopted. A major technology advance of this time was the development of photography, permitting astrophotography, and some telescopes were tailored to this application. A wide variety of scientific instruments were developed for use with telescopes, such as for spectroscopy and various astronomical measurements.

Reflectors and 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. Refracting telescopes, with lenses, especially achromatic doublets, rather than mirrors were popular in the 19th century (see also great refractor).

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, UK1891–1904 [1]
Herschel 40-foot (1.26 m diam.) [2] 126 cm (49½") reflector – metal Observatory House; England, UK1789–1815
Great Paris Exhibition Telescope of 1900 125 cm (49.21")achromat – siderostat Paris 1900 Exposition, France1900–1901
Great Melbourne Telescope [3] 122 cm (48") reflector – metal Melbourne Observatory, Australia1869
William Lassell 48-inch [4] 122 cm (48") reflector – metal Malta 1861–1865
National Observatory, Paris1.2 m (47")reflector-glass [5] Paris, France1875–1943 [1]
Yerkes Observatory [6] 102 cm (40")achromat Williams Bay, Wisconsin, USA 1897
Meudon Observatory 100 cm [7] 100 cm (39.4")reflector-glassMeudon Observatory, France1891 [8]
James Lick telescope, Lick Observatory 91 cm (36")achromat Mount Hamilton, California, USA 1888
Crossley Reflector [9] 91.4 cm (36") reflector – glass Lick Observatory, USA1896
A. A. Common Reflector91.4 cm (36") reflector – glass Great Britain1880–1896
Rosse 36-inch Telescope (The 3-foot)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
83-cm Reflector, Toulouse Observatory 83 cm (32.67")reflector-glass Toulouse, France 1875 [10] [11]
Potsdam Großer Refraktor
Astrophysical Observatory Potsdam 		80 cm + 50 cm
(31½" + 29½")		achromat x2 Potsdam, Deutsches Kaiserreich 1899
Focault 80 cm, Marseille Observatory [12] 80 cm (31.5")reflector-glassMarseille, France1862–1965 [13]
Grand Lunette Biscoffscheim, Nice Observatory 77 cm (30.3")achromatNice, France [14] [15] 1886
Pulkovo observatory 76 cm (30")achromat Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire 1885–1941/44
Royal Observatory, Greenwich 76.2 cm (30")reflectorGreenwich, England, UK1897 [1]
28-inch Grubb Refractor – Royal Greenwich Observatory 71 cm (28")achromat Greenwich, London, Great Britain 1894
Henry Draper 28-inch [16] (Harvard College Observatory since 1889 [1] )71 cm (28")reflector-glassUnited States1871
Großer Refraktor, Vienna Observatory 69 cm (26")achromat Vienna, Austrian Empire 1880 [17]
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
Royal Greenwich Observatory 66 cm (26")achromat Herstmonceux, Great Britain 1896
Newall Telescope 62.5 cm (24.6")refractor Gateshead, England, UK1869 [18]
Lowell Observatory 61 cm (24")achromatArizona, USA1896
Craig telescope 61 cm (24")achromat Wandsworth Common, London, [19] UK1852–1857
William Lassell 24-inch [20] 61 cm (24") reflector – metal Liverpool, England, UK1845
Royal Observatory, Edinburgh 61 cm (24")reflectorEdinburgh, Scotland, UK1872 [1]
Daramona 24-inch reflector [21] 61 cm (24") reflector – glass Streete, Ireland1881–1971
Radcliffe Double Refractor, Radcliffe Observatory 60/45 cm
(23.6″/18")		achromat x2 Oxford, UK 1901
Halstead Observatory 58.4 cm (23")achromatPrinceton, New Jersey, USA1881
Institut technomatique 52 cm (20½")refractorParis, France1857 [22]
Chamberlin Observatory 50 cm (20")achromatColorado, USA1891
Nasymth 20-inch50 cm (20")reflector – metalUnited Kingdom [23] 1842
Imperial Observatory (Straßburg) 48.5 cm (19.1")achromatStraßburg/Strasbourg, German Empire/France1880 [24]
Herschel 20-foot (0.475 m diam.) [25] [26] 47.5 cm (18½") reflector – metal Observatory House; England, UK1782–?
Schröter 27 foot Newtonian [27] 47 cm (18½") reflector – metal Lilienthal, Lower Saxony (Germany)1793–1813?
18½-inch Dearborn Observatory Refractor47 cm (18½")achromatChicago (1862–1893), Evanston, Illinois (1893), USA1862
Flower Observatory 46 cm (18")achromatPhiladelphia, USA1896
Royal Observatory46 cm (18")achromat Cape Colony, South Africa, British Empire1897 [28]
Merz & Mahler Refractor, Pulkovo observatory [29] 38 cm (15")achromat Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire 1839
Harvard Great Refractor, Harvard College Observatory [29] 38 cm (15")achromat Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA1847
Armagh 15-inch Grubb Reflector [30] 38 cm (15") reflector – metal Armagh Observatory, Northern Ireland 1835 [31]
Paris Observatory (Arago Telescope) 38 cm Brunner38 cm (15")achromatParis, France1857 [32]
Lunette coudée, Lyon Observatory 36.6 cmachromat Saint-Genis-Laval, France1887
Markree Observatory 13.3-inch Grubb/Cauchoix [31] 34 cm (13.3")refractor County Sligo, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1834 [31]
The 12.8 Inch Merz refractor at Royal Greenwich Observatory [33] 32.5 cm (12.8")refractorGreenwich, England1850s
McMillin Observatory 12½-inch [34] 31.75 cm (12½")refractorOhio, USA1895; 1896–1968
Bamberg Refractor, Wilhelm Foerster Observatory (since 1963) in Berlin31.4 cm (12.36")achromat Urania Observatory, Berlin-Moabit, Prussia / Berlin, Germany1889–1945 [35]
Grubb refractor, Keele Observatory 31 cm (12.25")achromatOxford, England, UK1874
University of Illinois Observatory 30 cm (12")achromat Urbana, Illinois, USA1896
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, USA1843
Repsold Refractor (10-duims), Leiden Observatory 26.6 cm (10½")achromat Leiden, The Netherlands 1885
Mills Observatory 25 cm (10")achromat United Kingdom 1871
Fraunhofer Refractor, United States Naval Observatory (Foggy Bottom)24.4 cm (9.6")achromatFoggy Bottom, D.C., USA1844 [36]
Quito Astronomical Observatory [37] 24 cm (9½")Great refractor Quito, Ecuador 1875
Fraunhofer-Refraktor, Berlin Observatory 24 cm (9.6")achromatBerlin-Kreuzberg, Deutsches Kaiserreich (1835–1913) [38] 1835
Great Dorpat Refractor (Fraunhofer) Dorpat/Tartu Observatory 24 cm (9.6")achromatDorpat, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire / now Tartu, Estonia 1824 [39] [40]
Van Monckhoven Telescope23 cmrefractorGhent, Belgium, UGENT Observatory Armand Pien1880
Sheepshanks Equatorial of Royal Greenwich Observatory [33] 17 cm (6.7")achromatGreenwich, England, UK1838
Merz Refractor (6-duims), Leiden Observatory 16.6 cm (6½")achromat Leiden, The Netherlands 1838
Wesleyan University 6-inch Lerebours refractor [41] 15.24 cm (6")achromatConnecticut, USA1836 [41] [42]
Shuckburgh telescope 10 cm (4.1")achromatWarwickshire, England, UK1791–1923
Utzschneider & Fraunhofer Comet Seeker [43] 10.2 cm (4")acrhomatFoggy Bottom, D.C., USA1843
Ertel Comet Seeker
Markree Observatory 		7.62 (3")achromatMarkree, Ireland1842–1873 [44]

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

See also

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