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Comparison of nominal sizes of apertures of some notable optical telescopes For the largest reflecting telescopes on the planet, the horizontal indicates the year built and the vertical direction indicates the size of the mirror measured in meters. Countries which contain several of these telescopes are color-coded for identification.
Refracting telescopes use a lens to focus light. The Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope , with a lens diameter of 43 inches, is technically the largest, with 39 inches clear for the aperture.The second largest refracting telescope in the world is the Yerkes Observatory 40 inch (102 cm) refractor, used for astronomical and scientific observation for ...
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.
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]
A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image (also referred to a dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope design was originally used in spyglasses and astronomical telescopes but is also used for long-focus camera lenses .
This is a list of large optical telescopes. For telescopes larger than 3 meters in aperture see List of largest optical reflecting telescopes . This list combines large or expensive reflecting telescopes from any era, as what constitutes famous reflector has changed over time.
People flock to the new David Dunlap Observatory in the 1930s, the second largest reflecting telescope in the world going by a mirror diameter of 74 inches (about 1.9 meters) at that time. Telescopes have grown in size since they first appeared around 1608. The following tables list the increase in size over the years.
Ultimately, a valid comparison between two telescopes must take into consideration more specifications, when a general measurement becomes obtuse. Aperture of the primary mirror alone can be poor measure of a reflective telescope's significance; for example, the Hubble Space Telescope has only a 2.4 metres (94 in) primary mirror. In addition ...