List of largest optical telescopes in the British Isles
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File:The Greenwich Observatory - geograph.org.uk - 1350541.jpg
File:Uranus Voyager2 color calibrated.png
File:40-foot telescope mirror.jpg, on display at the Science Museum, London.]]
File:Royal Greenwich Observatory, Herstmonceux - April 2012.jpg, East Sussex; this was an important site for telescopes in the latter 20th century in England.]]
File:The 28-inch Telescope (2).jpg
File:Herstmonceux trig with Isaac Newton telescope - geograph.org.uk - 67765.jpg
List of largest optical telescopes in Ireland and the United Kingdom is a list of the largest optical telescopes in the British Isles, including in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The most famous telescopes include Herschel's reflector, with which he discovered Georgium Sidus (the planet Uranus), and the Leviathan of Parsonstown which at 1.83 meters (72 inches) was for decades the largest aperture telescope in the World. In the 20th century many older telescopes are popular tourist attractions, such as at Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. There are also a number of modest instruments at universities used for various astronomical projects or education.
The largest optical telescope in Britain was the Isaac Newton Telescope which had a {{convert|98|inch|m}} mirror; it was located at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Herstmonceux from 1965 to 1980, but was then relocated to Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, Canary Islands.
The list is not really representative of the largest telescopes operated by the United Kingdom or Ireland, which by the 20th century were building large telescopes overseas or in the southern hemisphere for better weather or other reasons.
Current list
The following is a non-comprehensive list of optical telescopes currently located in the British Isles with an aperture of 24 inches or greater:
Historical
- Isaac Newton Telescope at Herstmonceux, 98 inches (1965-1979)
- Leviathan of Parsonstown, 1842- ~1890
- 3-foot telescope at Parsons
- RGO telescopes at different points in its history{{Cite web|url=http://www.royalobservatorygreenwich.org/articles.php?article=10|title=Telescopes}}
- 38-inch Hargreaves Reflector (1960)
- Yapp 36-inch Reflector (1932)
- 30-inch Steavenson Reflector (1939)
- 28-inch Refractor (1893)
- Thompson Telescope with a 26-inch refractor and 30-inch reflector on one mounting (1896)
- Lassell 2-foot Reflector (1845)
- Isaac Roberts 20-inch reflector (1885)
- Western Equatorial (c.1824)
- 13-inch Astrographic Refractor (1890)
- Merz 12.8-inch Visual Refractor (1859-1893) (this was replaced by the 28 inch Grubb in the onion dome)
- Thomson 9-inch Photographic Refractor (c.1888)
- Sheepshanks refractor 6.7-inch (1838) (aka Sheepshanks Equatorial)
- 6-inch Franklin Adams Camera (1898)
- Shuckburgh telescope a 4.1-inch aperture Refractor (1791)
- At the Observatory Science Center (at Herstmonceux){{Cite web|url=http://www.millseyspages.com/astro_pages/rgo/eq_group_2005.html|title=Observatory Science Centre at Herstmonceux|website=www.millseyspages.com|access-date=2019-10-27}}
- Hargreaves 38 inch Congo Schmidt
- Yapp 36 Inch reflector
- Thompson 30 inch reflector
- Thompson 26 inch reflector
- Markree Observatory 13.3" Cauchoix (the largest refractor of the early 1830s)
- A.A. Commons reflectors (later reworked into Crossley and Harvard telescopes)
- Lassel's reflector, this 24 inch metal mirror telescope was used to discover the moons Triton and Hyperion.{{Cite web|url=http://www.royalobservatorygreenwich.org/articles.php?article=1046|title=The Royal Observatory Greenwich - where east meets west: Telescope: The Lassell 2-foot Reflector (1847)|website=www.royalobservatorygreenwich.org|access-date=2019-11-28}}
- Newton's reflector
- 40-foot telescope (England)
- Armagh Observatory 15-inch Grubb reflecting telescope.{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334139497|title=The 15-inch Equatorial Reflector by Thomas Grubb at Armagh Observatory|last=Butler|first=C.J.|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}} Specula metal mirror mounted on an equatorial, with clockwork-drive.
- Bedford Observatory Tully 5.9 inch refractor (8.5 feet focal length); Dollond mount with Sheepshanks clockwork drive.{{Cite journal|url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1949PA.....57...74K|title=1949PA.....57...74K Page 74|website=adsabs.harvard.edu|bibcode=1949PA.....57...74K|access-date=2019-10-31}}
- Cambridge Observatory 36 inch (3 feet = 91.44 cm) aperture reflector
Observations
A noted accomplishment of the biggest telescope at the time, Ross's "six foot" leviathan, was the observation of the spiral structure of M51, which was presented at Cambridge in the summer of 1845.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F8EuToKH45QC&q=the+98+inch+isaac+newton+mirror+exhibit&pg=PA359|title=New Scientist|date=1983-08-04|publisher=Reed Business Information|language=en}} Herschel was quite prolific discovering a planet and many moons of the Solar system also with his reflectors.
See also
- Lists of telescopes
- List of telescopes of Australia
- David Dunlap Observatory (Largest telescope of the British Empire in the 1930s)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-mirror-glass-of-the-isaac-newton-telescope-in-herstmonceux-16804170.html The 98 inch (249 cm) mirror glass of original INT]
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