James Gregory Telescope

The James Gregory Telescope was constructed in 1962 by the University of St Andrews. It is of a Schmidt-Cassegrain design and is fitted with a CCD camera.[1] The telescope has very large field of view, compared even to regular 'wide field' designs, and can view 5 square degrees.[2]

James Gregory Telescope
The James Gregory telescope
Named afterJames Gregory 
Location(s)St Andrews, Fife
Coordinates56°20′14″N 2°48′59″W
OrganizationUniversity of St Andrews 
Built–1962 (–1962)
Telescope styleoptical telescope
Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope 
Diameter0.94 m (3 ft 1 in)
Websiteobservatory.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk
Location of James Gregory Telescope
Related media on Wikimedia Commons

The James Gregory Telescope is the largest working optical telescope in the UK and is still used by the School of Physics and Astronomy for research in collaborative projects such as SuperWASP and the study of super massive black holes and their impact on galaxy structure.[3]

The James Gregory Telescope is named after the Scottish mathematician, astronomer and University academic James Gregory, who invented the design Gregorian telescope.[4] This was the first design for a reflecting telescope, and pre-dates Newton's design; however Newton is better known as he actually produced a functioning example. (see Newton's reflector)

As of 2018, this telescope is recognized as the largest telescope in operation in the United Kingdom.[2] It is also recognized as the largest Schmidt-Cassegrain.[2] This design was developed by Baker and Linfoot, and a half-scale model was also made during its development.[2] It was estimated the telescope costs about 1 million pounds to manufacture, in early 21s century currency.[2]

The telescope uses both a mirror and corrector, and is capable up to 16 degrees but was adjusted after it came online in 1962.[2]

The telescope has an aperture up 37 inches, but in the current setup about 35 inches of aperture are used.[5]


Light path in a Schmidt–Cassegrain, which uses both mirrors and a thin lens

See also

References
  1. Tim Lister. "James Gregory Telescope". Tim Lister. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  2. Dvinsky, Dalcash (2018-04-05). "A short history of Scotland's largest telescope". Medium. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  3. Anon. "St Andrews Observatory". University of St Andrews School of Physics and Astronomy. Archived from the original on December 26, 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  4. J J O'Connor and E F Robertson. "James Gregory". University of St Andrews School of Mathematics and Statistics. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  5. "JGT".
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