List of largest optical telescopes in the 18th century
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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 refractors and reflectors that were active some time between about 1699 to 1801. It is oriented towards astronomy, not terrestrial telescopes (e.g. spyglasses).
Many of the largest were metal mirror reflectors, some of which had substational apertures even for the 20th century. One problem 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 20th century that really large reflectors 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 glass, which was not pioneered until the next century.
Selected Reflectors & Refractors
[edit]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") | Reflector | World's largest 1789; Mimas & Enceladus discovery telescope | Observatory House, Slough, England | 1789–1815 |
| Reverend John Michell's Gregorian reflector[2] | 75 cm (29.5") | Reflector – Gregorian | World's largest 1780 | Yorkshire, Great Britain | 1780–1789 |
| Herschel "X Feet"[3] or "Large 10 Feet"[4] | 61 cm (24") | Reflector | England | 1800 | |
| Father Noel's Gregorian reflector[2] | 60 cm (23.5") | Reflector – Gregorian | World's largest 1761; 1796 Newtonian conversion | Paris, France | 1761-1841[5] |
| James Short Gregorian reflector | 50 cm (19.5") | Reflector – Gregorian | World's largest 1750 | Scotland | 1750 |
| Schröter 27 foot Newtonian[3] | 47 cm (18.5") | Reflector | Lilienthal, Lower Saxony (Germany) | 1793–1813 | |
| Herschel 20-foot[6][7] | 47 cm (18.5") | Reflector | Observatory House; England | 1782 | |
| James Short Reflector for King of Spain[3] | 46 cm (18.1") | Reflector – Gregorian | Spain | 1752 | |
| James Short's Gregorian reflector | 38 cm (14") | Reflector – Gregorian | World's largest 1734 | Scotland | 1734 |
| Huygens aerial for Royal Society of London[8] | 19 cm (7.5") | aerial | London, England | 1691–1786[9] | |
| William Herschel 7-foot[8] | 16 cm (6.3") | Reflector | Used to discover Georgium Sidus (Uranus) | England | 1776–1783 |
| Hadley's Reflector[10] | 15 cm (6") | Reflector | First parabolic newtonian | England | 1721 |
| Van Deyl of Amsterdam telescope[11] | 11.4 cm (4.5") | achromat | England | 1781 | |
| James Short 4.5 inch reflector | 11.4 cm (4.5") | reflector | England | 1737[12] | |
| Shuckburgh telescope | 10 cm (4.1") | achromat | First large equatorial[13] | Warwickshire, England | 1791–1923 |
| Dollond Apochromatic Triplet[14] | 9.53 cm (3.75") | apochromat | First apochromatic triplet | England | 1763[14] |
| Dollond Triplet for Wollaston[15] | 9.02 cm | triple lens | RAS No. 16 | England | 1771[16] |
| Francesco Bianchini's aerial telescope[17] | 6.6 cm (2.6") | aerial | Rome, Italy | 1726 | |
| Chester Moore Hall's Doublet[8] | 6.4 cm (2.5") | achromat | First achromatic doublet | England | 1733 |
| Troughton Equatorial Telescope[18] | 5.08 cm (2") | achromat | Equatorial mount | Armagh Observatory, Ireland | 1795 |
| Newton's reflector[19] (1st) | 3.3 cm (1.3") | Reflector | First reflecting telescope | England | 1668–1704[19] |
* (First light or Build Completion to Inactive or Deconstruction)
Gallery
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See also
[edit]- Lists of telescopes
- List of largest optical telescopes in the 19th century
- List of largest optical telescopes in the 20th century
- List of largest optical telescopes historically
- List of largest optical reflecting telescopes
- Peter Dollond
References
[edit]- ^ "Original mirror for William Herschel's 40 foot telescope, 1785". Science & Society Picture Library. Retrieved 22 November 2008.
- ^ a b Henry C. King (2003). The History of the Telescope. Courier Corporation. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-486-43265-6.
- ^ a b c Henry C. King (2003). The History of the Telescope. Courier Corporation. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-486-43265-6.
- ^ 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.
- ^ King, Henry C. (2003-01-01). The History of the Telescope. Courier Corporation. ISBN 9780486432656.
- ^ "William Herschel (1738-1822)". www.maa.clell.de.
- ^ "Exhibitions". National Air and Space Museum. 27 April 2016.
- ^ a b c Paul Schlyter, Largest optical telescopes of the world
- ^ Christa Jungnickel; Russell K. McCormmach (1996). Cavendish. American Philosophical Society. pp. 306–308. ISBN 978-0-87169-220-7.
- ^ "Telescope: Hadley's Reflector". history.amazingspace.org.
- ^ The Horological Journal. October 1876. p. 20.
- ^ "James Short's Reflecting Telescopes".
- ^ "Refracting telescope on equatorial mounting, 1791;". webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 2012-03-08.
- ^ a b "1948PA.....56...75K Page 83". articles.adsabs.harvard.edu.
- ^ "1980JBAA...90..422D Page 425".
- ^ Dall, H. E.; Hysom, E. J.; Ronan, C. A. (1980). "1980JBAA...90..422D Page 422". Journal of the British Astronomical Association. 90: 422. Bibcode:1980JBAA...90..422D. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ Moore, P. (1985). "1985JBAA...95...50M Page 50". Journal of the British Astronomical Association. 95: 50. Bibcode:1985JBAA...95...50M.
- ^ "Armagh Observatory". Archived from the original on 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
- ^ a b Henry C. King (2003). The History of the Telescope. Courier Corporation. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-486-43265-6.
Further reading
[edit]- Istituto e museo di storia della scienza (Italy); Albert Van Helden (1999). Catalogue of Early Telescopes. Giunti Editore. ISBN 978-88-09-21680-8.
- OUTLINE OF 18TH CENTURY ASTRONOMY, New York Skies Astronomy.
