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Telescopes have grown in size since they first appeared around 1608. The following tables list the increase in size over the years. Different technologies can and have been used to build telescopes, which are used to magnify distant views especially in astronomy.

By overall aperture

The following is a list of largest single mount optical telescopes sorted by total objective diameter (aperture), including segmented and multi-mirror configurations. It is a historical list, with the instruments listed in chronological succession by objective size. By itself, the diameter of the primary optics can be a poor measure of a telescope's historical or scientific significance; for example, William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse's 72-inch (1.8 m) reflecting telescope did not perform as well (i.e. gather as much light) as the smaller silvered glass mirror telescopes that succeeded it because of the poor performance of its speculum metal mirror.

By historical significance

Chronological list of optical telescopes by historical significance, which reflects the overall technological progression and not only the primary mirror's diameter (as shown in table above).

See also

• History of the telescope
• Lists of telescopes
• List of optical telescopes
• List of largest optical reflecting telescopes
• List of largest optical refracting telescopes
• List of largest optical telescopes in the 20th century
• List of largest optical telescopes in the 19th century
• List of largest optical telescopes in the 18th century
• List of space telescopes
• List of telescope types
• Microscope (For magnifying very small things)

References

1. ^ "Original mirror for William Herschel's 40 foot telescope, 1785". Science & Society Picture Library. Retrieved 22 November 2008.
2. ^ King, Henry C. (1955). The History of the Telescope. Courier Corporation. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-486-43265-6.
3. ^ King, Henry C. (1955). The History of the Telescope. Courier Corporation. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-486-43265-6.
4. ^ Note: Diameter of cardboard objective stop Dupré, S. (2003). "Galileo's telescope and celestial light SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)". Journal for the History of Astronomy. 34 (Part 4, No. 117): 369–399. Bibcode:2003JHA....34..369D. doi:10.1177/002182860303400402. ISSN 0021-8286. S2CID 118089506.
5. "LBT First Binocular Light Press Release". Archived from the original on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
6. "Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station Celebrates First Half Century". 30 September 2005.
7. "NRC-HIA: Public Outreach – DAO – 1.8 m Telescope". Archived from the original on 2009-02-09. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
8. "mwoa.org – Observing with the 60-inch Telescope at Mount Wilson". Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2011-08-07.
9. mtwilson.edu-Building the 60-inch Telescope Article by Mike Simmons written in 1984 (and updated in 2008) for the Mount Wilson Observatory Association Archived 2013-08-05 at the Wayback Machine
10. New York Times "NEW HARVARD TELESCOPE.; Sixty-Inch Reflector, Biggest in the World, Being Set Up. "April 6, 1905, Thursday Page 9
11. "Mt. Hamilton Telescopes: CrossleyTelescope".
12. "Largest optical telescopes of the world".
13. sciencephoto.com, Great Melbourne Telescope, Casting a telescope mirror, 1866
14. "William Lassell (1799-1880) and the discovery of Triton, 1846".
15. "The Lassell Telescope".
16. Fraunhofer and the Great Dorpat Refractor, Waaland, J. Robert, American Journal of Physics, Volume 35, Issue 4, pp. 344–350 (1967)
17. "Fraunhoferi refraktor".
18. "William Herschel (1738-1822)".
19. "Exhibitions".
20. ^ http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/gif/1948PA.....56...75K/0000083.000.html Title: The invention and early development of the achromatic telescope, Author: King, H. C., Journal: Popular Astronomy, Vol. 56, p. 75, Bibliographic Code: 1948PA.....56...75K, Page 83
21. ^ Paul Schlyter, Largest optical telescopes of the world
22. "Amazing Space".
23. Lemaitre, Gérard René (2008). Astronomical Optics and Elasticity Theory: Active Optics Methods. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 17. ISBN 978-3-540-68905-8.
24. Hall, A. Rupert (1996). Isaac Newton: Adventurer in Thought. Cambridge University Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-521-56669-8.

External links

• Largest optical telescopes of the world
• List of large reflecting telescopes
• The World's Largest Optical Telescopes
• Selected largest telescopes
• The Historical Growth of Telescope Aperture (2003)

• Astronomy
• Stars
• Spaceflight
• Outer space
• Solar System

• Lists of telescopes
• Record progressions