

Zeiss made lens, same as at Berlin ObservatoryĦ5 cm Zeiss Refractor, Pulkovo observatory Llano del Hato National Astronomical Observatory Manufactured by Sir Howard Grubb as a gift from Sir Henry Thompson originally used at Greenwich on the same mount as a 30-inch reflector Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Great Britain Įquatorial Group, Herstmonceux, Sussex Alvan Clark & Sons mounting replaced with Warner & Swasey mounting in 1893. Moved to Northwest, Washington, D.C., 1893 Destroyed by bush fire on January 18, 2003. Yale-Columbia Refractor - Previously located in South Africa. Yale-Columbia Refractor moved to Mount Stromlo Observatory in 1952, same telescope as following entry. Still in operation for educational purposes. Single element non-achromatic objective with Schupmann corrector. The lens is 110 cm in diameter stopped down to 98 cm.ĭouble telescope by Repsold and Sons, optics by SteinheilĪllegheny Observatory, University of Pittsburghĭestroyed during WWII, only lens (made by Alvan Clark & Sons) survives. Single element non-achromatic objective combined with reflective Adaptive optics and a Schupmann corrector. Great Paris Exhibition Telescope of 1900 įixed lens, scrapped. It is a single element lens whereas most of this list are doublets, with a crown and flint lens elements. The SST has an optical aperture of 98 cm (39.37"), although the lens itself is 110 cm (43.31"). This list includes some additional examples, such as the Great Paris telescope, which also used a mirror, and some solar telescopes which may have more complicated optical configurations. As with reflecting telescopes, there was an ongoing struggle to balance cost with size, quality, and usefulness. Larger meniscus lenses have been used in later catadioptric telescopes which mix refractors and reflectors in the image-forming part of the telescope. Using a siderostat incurs a reflective loss. It used a 78-inch (200 cm) Focault siderostat for aiming light into the Image-forming optical system part of the telescope, which had a 125 cm diameter lens. However, other large refractors include a 21st-century solar telescope which is not directly comparable because it uses a single element non-achromatic lens, and the short-lived Great Paris Exhibition Telescope of 1900. Most are classical great refractors, which used achromatic doublets on an equatorial mount. The next largest refractor telescopes are the James Lick telescope, and the Meudon Great Refractor. The Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope, which has an actual lens diameter of 43 inches, is technically then larger than the lens of the Yerkes, but only 39 inches are clear for the aperture, and is used today for solar observations. The largest refracting telescope in the world is the Yerkes Observatory 40 inch (102 cm) refractor, used for astronomical and scientific observation for over a century.

Refracting telescopes use a lens to focus light. The Grande Cupole for the double refractor of Meudon, with roughly 83 cm (33 in) and 62 cm (24 in) aperture lenses on the same mounting, and making its debut in 1891.
