List of largest optical telescopes in the 18th century

List of largest optical telescopes in the 18th century, are listings of what were, for the time period of the 18th century, large optical telescopes. The list includes various refractor and reflector that were active some time between about 1699 to 1801. It is oriented towards astronomy, not terrestrial telescopes (e.g. spyglass).

A James Short's reflecting telescope;this English telescope maker produced almost 1400 Gregorian reflectors in the mid-1700s. Mobile versions were used to observe the Transit of Venus.

Many of the largest were metal mirror reflectors, some of which had substational apertures even for the 20th century. One problems was that many instrument makers including Herschel did not pass on their mirror making craft, and by the next century reflectors had largely been passed over in favour of small achromats (2 lens refractors). It was not until the 21st century that really large refactors would predominate once again. Some of the achievements in astronomy of the 19th century telescopes include the discovery of the planet Uranus, the Messier catalog, and overall increased detections of comets, stars, star catalogs, and other charting.

The major breakthrough in the 1700s, was the discovery of two and even three lens telescopes and increased spread of reflecting telescopes and their designs. In this period reflectors used metal mirrors not metal coated class, which was not pioneered until the next century.

Selected Reflectors & Refractors

The main telescope technologies during this period were refractors with non-achromatic objectives (single lens), speculum metal reflectors, refractors with achromatic doublets objective (doublet lens), and apochromatic triplets (after 1760s) objectives. The list is inherently limited by what examples and records survived.

Legend


Name(s) Aperture
cm (in)
Type Significance Location then/Original Site Extant*
Herschel 40-foot (1.26 m diameter)[1]126 cm(49.5″)ReflectorWorld's largest 1789;
Mimas & Enceldaus discovery telescope
Observatory House; England1789–1815
Rev John Michell's Gregorian reflector[2]75 cm (29.5″)Reflector - GregorianWorld's largest 1780Yorkshire, Great Britain1780–1789
Herschel "X Feet"[3] or "Large 10 Feet"[4]61 cm (24″)ReflectorEngland1800
Father Noel's Gregorian reflector[2]60 cm (23.5″)Reflector - GregorianWorld's largest 1761; 1796 Newtonian conversionParis, France1761-1841[5]
James Short Gregorian reflector50 cm (19.5")Reflector - GregorianWorld's largest 1750Scotland1750
Schröter 27 foot Newtonian[3]47 cm (18.5")ReflectorLilienthal, Lower Saxony (Germany)1793-1813
Herschel 20-foot[6][7]47 cm (18.5″)ReflectorObservatory House; England1782
James Short Reflector for King of Spain[3]46 cm (18.1″)Reflector - GregorianSpain1752
James Short's Gregorian reflector38 cm (14″)Reflector - GregorianWorld's largest 1734Scotland1734
Huygens aerial for Royal Society of London[8]19 cm (7.5″)aerialLondon, England1691-1786[9]
William Herschel 7-foot[8]16 cm (6.3″)ReflectorDiscovered Georgium SidusEngland1776–1783
Hadley's Reflector[10]15 cm (6″)ReflectorFirst parabolic newtonianEngland1721
Van Deyl of Amsterdam telescope[11]11.4 cm (4.5″)achromatEngland1781
James Short 4.5 inch reflector11.4 cm (4.5″)reflectorEngland1737[12]
Shuckburgh telescope10 cm (4.1″)achromatFirst large equatorial[13]Warwickshire, England1791–1923
Dollond Apochromatic Triplet[14]9.53 cm (3.75″)apochromatFirst apochromatic tripletEngland1763[14]
Dollond Triplet for Wollaston[15]9.02 cmtriple lensRAS No. 16England1771[16]
Francesco Bianchini's aerial telescope[17]6.6 cm (2.6")aerialRome, Italy1726
Chester Moore Hall's Doublet[8]6.4 cm (2.5")achromatFirst achromatic doubletEngland1733
Troughton Equatorial Telescope[18]5.08 cm (2")achromatEquatorial mountArmagh Observatory, Ireland1795
Newton's reflector[19] (1st)3.3 cm (1.3")ReflectorFirst reflecting telescopeEngland1668-1704[19]

* (First light or Build Completion to Inactive or Deconstruction)

See also

References

  1. "Original mirror for William Herschel's 40 foot telescope, 1785". Science & Society Picture Library. Retrieved 22 November 2008.
  2. Henry C. King (2003). The History of the Telescope. Courier Corporation. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-486-43265-6.
  3. Henry C. King (2003). The History of the Telescope. Courier Corporation. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-486-43265-6.
  4. Constance Ann Lubbock; lady Constance Ann Herschel Lubbock (1933). The Herschel Chronicle: The Life-story of William Herschel and His Sister, Caroline Herschel. CUP Archive. p. 92.
  5. King, Henry C. (2003-01-01). The History of the Telescope. Courier Corporation. ISBN 9780486432656.
  6. "William Herschel (1738-1822)". www.maa.clell.de.
  7. "Exhibitions". National Air and Space Museum. 27 April 2016.
  8. Paul Schlyter, Largest optical telescopes of the world
  9. Christa Jungnickel; Russell K. McCormmach (1996). Cavendish. American Philosophical Society. pp. 306–308. ISBN 978-0-87169-220-7.
  10. "Telescope: Hadley's Reflector". history.amazingspace.org.
  11. The Horological Journal. October 1876. p. 20.
  12. "Refracting telescope on equatorial mounting, 1791;". webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 2012-03-08.
  13. "1948PA.....56...75K Page 83". articles.adsabs.harvard.edu.
  14. "1980JBAA...90..422D Page 422". adsabs.harvard.edu. Bibcode:1980JBAA...90..422D. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  15. "1985JBAA...95...50M Page 50". adsabs.harvard.edu. Bibcode:1985JBAA...95...50M.
  16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2010-09-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. Henry C. King (2003). The History of the Telescope. Courier Corporation. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-486-43265-6.

Further reading

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