List of largest optical refracting telescopes

List of largest optical refracting telescopes

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Name/Observatory	Location at debut	Modern location name or fate	Lens diameter	Focal length	Built	Comments	Image

Great Paris Exhibition Telescope of 1900	Paris 1900 Exposition	Dismantled 1900	125 cm (49.21")	57 m (187 feet)	1900	Fixed lens, scrapped. Aimed via a 2m reflecting siderostat	-

Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope, ORM	La Palma, Spain	110 cm (43,31")	15 m	2002	Single element non-achromatic objective combined with reflective Adaptive optics and a Schupmann corrector. The lens is 110 cm in diameter stopped down to 98 cm.	-

Yerkes Observatory	Williams Bay, Wisconsin, USA	102 cm (40″)	19.4 m (62′)	1897	Second largest in current operation.	-

James Lick telescope Lick Observatory	Mount Hamilton, California, USA	91 cm (36″)	17.6 m	1888	-

Grande Lunette Paris Observatory	Meudon, France	83 cm + 62 cm (32.67" + 24.40")	16.2 m	1891	Double telescope	-

Großer Refraktor Astrophysical Observatory Potsdam	Potsdam, Deutsches Kaiserreich	Potsdam, Germany	80 cm + 50 cm (31.5"+19.5")	12.0 m	1899	Double telescope by Repsold and Sons, optics by Steinheil	-

Grande Lunette Nice Observatory	Nice, France	since 1988 Côte d'Azur Observatory	77 cm (30.3″)	17.9 m	1886	Bischoffscheim funded	-

William Thaw Telescope Allegheny Observatory, University of Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA	76 cm (30″)	14.1 m	1914	Brashear made, photographic	-

Pulkovo observatory	Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire	Destroyed	76 cm (30″)	12.8 m (42 feet)	1885	Destroyed during WWII, only lens (made by Alvan Clark & Sons) survives.	-

28-inch Grubb Refractor Royal Greenwich Observatory	Greenwich, London, Great Britain	71 cm (28″)	8.5 m	1894	Great Equatorial Telescope full length.JPG

Rolfscher Refraktor	Rathenow, Germany	70 cm (27.6″)	20.8 m	1949	Single element non-achromatic objective with Schupmann corrector.	-

Großer Refraktor Vienna Observatory	Vienna, Austrian Empire	Vienna, Austria	69 cm (27" )	10.5 m	1880	Largest refractor in 1880, by Grubb	-

Great Treptow Refractor Treptow Observatory	Berlin, Germany	68 cm (26.77")	21 m	1896	renamed Archenhold Observatory 1946	-

Yale-Columbia Refractor Yale Southern Station	Johannesburg, Union of South Africa	Relocated 1952	66 cm (26")	10.8 m	1925–1952	Yale-Columbia Refractor moved to Mount Stromlo Observatory in 1952, same telescope as following entry.

Yale-Columbia Refractor Mount Stromlo Observatory	Mount Stromlo, Australia	Destroyed 2003	66 cm (26")	10.8 m	1952	Yale-Columbia Refractor - Previously located in South Africa. Relocated to Australia in 1952.	-

Leander McCormick Observatory	Charlottesville, Virginia, USA	66 cm (26" )	9.9 m	1884	completed c. 1874, installed 1884	-

U.S. Naval Observatory	Foggy Bottom Washington, DC, USA	moved to Northwest, Washington, D.C., 1893	66 cm (26")	9.9 m	1873	Largest refractor in 1873. Alvan Clark & Sons mounting replaced with Warner & Swasey mounting in 1893.	-

Thompson 26-inch Refractor	Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Great Britain	Equatorial Group, Herstmonceux, Sussex	66 cm (26")	6.82 m	1896	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	-

Llano del Hato National Astronomical Observatory	Llano del Hato, Venezuela	65 cm (25.6″)	10.6 m	1955	-

Belgrade Observatory	Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbia	Belgrade, Serbia	65 cm (25.6″)	10.55 m	1932	Zeiss made lens, same as at Berlin Observatory	Pavilion of Large Refractor.JPG

Hida Observatory	Gifu, Japan	65 cm (25.6″)	10.5 m	1972

65 cm Zeiss Refractor, Pulkovo observatory	Germany	Saint Petersburg, Russia	65 cm (25.6″)	10.413 m	1954	War reparation from Germany In Pulkovo since 1954.	-

Observatory History Museum Mitaka 65 cm	Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan	65 cm (25.6″)	10.21 m	1929	Carl Zeiss Jena	-

Berlin-Babelsberg Observatory Berliner Sternwarte Babelsberg	Berlin, Germany	65 cm (26 ")	10.12 m (33 ft)	1914	Berlin Observatory just moved to Potsdam-Babelsberg in 1913; Zeiss lens	-

Newall Refractor National Observatory of Athens	UK	Athens, Greece since 1957	62.5 cm (24.5″)	8.86 m (29 ft)	1869	Built by Thomas Cooke for Robert Stirling Newall. First located at his estate; donated and relocated to Cambridge Observatory in 1889; donated to Athens Observatory and relocated to Mt.

Craig telescope	Wandsworth Common, London	Dismantled 1857	61 cm (24″)	24.5 m (80 feet)	1852	Problem with lens figuring

Sproul Observatory	Pennsylvania, USA	Dismantled July 2017	61 cm (24″)	11.0 m (36 ft)	1911	Currently under restoration to be re-installed in Northwest Arkansas

Lowell Observatory	Arizona, USA	61 cm (24″)	9.75 m (32 ft)	1894	Alvan Clark & Sons telescope	-

Einstein Tower	Potsdam, Germany	60 cm (23.6″)	14 m	1924	Tower telescope, fixed lens fed by a heliostat	-

Zeiss Double Refractor Bosscha Observatory	Bandung, Dutch East Indies	Bandung, Indonesia	60 cm (23.6″)	10.7 m	1928	-

Der Große Refraktor (Great Refractor) Hamburg Observatory	Bergedorf, Germany	60 cm (23.6″)	9 m	1911	-

Grubb Parsons Double Refractor	Saltsjöbaden, Sweden	60 + 50 cm (23.6″ + 19.7")	8.0 m	1930	Stockholms Observatory in Saltsjöbaden

Radcliffe Double Refractor UCL Observatory	Oxford, UK	Mill Hill, London	60 + 45 cm (23.6″ + 18")	7.0 m	1901	Obtained from the Radcliffe Observatory and installed at UCLO (then known as "ULO") in 1938	-

Halstead Observatory	Princeton, USA	Roper Mountain Science Center, Greenville, SC	58.4 cm (23″)	9.8 m (32 ft)	1881	by Alvan Clark & Sons

Chamberlin Observatory	Colorado, USA	50 cm (20″)	8.5 m (28 ft)	1891	First Light 1894	-

Chabot Observatory	Oakland, California, USA (2000)	50 cm (20″)	8.5 m (28 ft)	1914	"Rachael" Warner & Swazey Company (Optics John A Brashear Company) Refurb in 2000 and moved to present location.	-

Van Vleck Observatory	Connecticut, USA	50 cm (20″)	8.4 m (27.5 ft)	1922	-

Carnegie Double Astrograph Lick Observatory	Mount Hamilton, California, USA	not in service threatened with removal	50 cm (20″)	4.67 m (14 ft)	1941	F7.4

Imperial Observatory	Straßburg, German Empire	Strasbourg, France	48.5 cm (19.1″)	7 m (23 ft)	1880	Then largest in German Empire	-

18½-in Dearborn Observatory Refractor	Chicago, USA	Evanston, USA	47 cm (18.5″)	1862	by Alvan Clark & Sons	-

Luneta 46 Observatório Nacional	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	46 cm (18,4″)	9,7 m	1921	T. Cooke & Sons	-

Wilder Observatory	Amherst College, Amherst, MA, USA	46 cm (18″)	(25 ft)	1903	by Alvan Clark & Sons	-

Flower Observatory	Philadelphia, USA	46 cm (18″)	6.7 m (22.6 ft)	1896

Royal Observatory	Cape Colony, British Empire	South Africa	46 cm (18″)	6.7 m (22.6 ft)	1897

Cooke-Zeiss Refractor, Royal Observatory of Belgium	Uccle, Belgium	45 cm (17.7″)	6.99 m	1891/1932	by Cooke & Sons, original 38 cm lens by Merz replaced by 45 cm lens from Zeiss 1932

Gran Ecuatorial Gautier Telescope La Plata Astronomical Observatory	La Plata, Argentina	43.3 cm (17″)	9,7 m	1894	Gautier	-

Brashear Refractor, Goodsell Observatory	Northfield, Minnesota, USA	41.15 cm (16.2″)	1890	by John Brashear

Herget Telescope Cincinnati Observatory	Cincinnati, Ohio	40.64 cm (16″)	1904	by Alvan Clark & Sons	Cincinnati Observatory.JPG

Vatican Observatory	Castel Gandolfo, Italy	40 cm (16″)	6.0 m	1881	by Zeiss	-

Dorides Refractor National Observatory of Athens	Athens, Greece	Athens, Greece	40 cm (16″)	5,08 m	1901	by Gautier

Washburn Observatory	Madison, Wisconsin, USA	In regular use for education and general public.	39.5 cm (15.56″)	6.7 m (22.6 ft)	1881	by Alvan Clark & Sons

Dominion Observatory Refractor Dominion Observatory	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada	Moved to Helen Sawyer-Hogg Observatory (Canada Science and Technology Museum, Ottawa) in 1974	38.1 cm (15″)	571.5 cm	1905	Original achromat doublet by John Brashear replaced with apochomat triplet by Perkin-Elmer in 1958. Currently used for education and outreach.

Lunette Arago Paris Observatory	Paris, France	38 cm (15")	9 m	1883	by Gautier and Henry brothers	-

Double Refractor Fabra Observatory	Barcelona, Spain	38 cm + 38 cm (15" + 15″)	6 m + 4 m	1904	Double telescope by Mailhat, Paris	-

Gran Ecuatorial Observatorio Astronómico Nacional	Tacubaya, México	38 cm (15")	4.8 m	1885	by Howard Grubb

Harvard Great Refractor Harvard College Observatory	Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA	38 cm (15″)	6.9 m	1847	largest telescope in America for 20 years	-

Telescopio Amici Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri	Florence, Italy	36 cm	5 m	1872	28 cm lens by G. B. Amici substituted by Zeiss lens in 1926. Currently used only for educational purposes.

Photographic Refractor Leiden Observatory	Leiden, Netherlands	34 cm + 15 cm (13.4″ + 5.9")	524 cm	1897	Double telescope by Gautier and Henry brothers

Astrograph Vienna Observatory	Vienna, Austrian Empire	Vienna, Austria	34 cm + 26 cm (13.3″ + 10.2")	3.4 m + 3.4 m	1885	Double telescope by Steinheil

Perth Astrograph, Perth Observatory	Old Perth Observatory, Mount Eliza, Western Australia	Perth Observatory, Bickley, Western Australia. Used for public education and outreach	33 cm (13")	3.34 m	1897	Designed and built by Howard Grubb & Co. Relocated to Bickley ~1966.

Fitz-Clark Refractor Allegheny Observatory, University of Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA	32.02 cm (13")	4.62	1861	Fitz made, visual/photographic. In 1895 established that Saturn's Rings are made up of particles and not solid.	-

H. Fitz-H.G. Fitz Refractor Henry Ruthurfurd, Private Observatroy	New York City, USA	32.02 cm (13")	4.62	1864	Fitz made, visual/photographic. Started by Henry, finished by son Henry Giles

Bamberg Refractor Urania Observatory (Berlin)	Berlin-Moabit, Prussia	Berlin, Germany	31.4 cm (12.36")	5 m	1889	then biggest in Prussia, moved to Insulaner Wilhelm-Foerster Observatory in 1963	BambergRefraktorBerlin.JPG

H. Fitz 12.6" refractor Detroit Observatory in Ann Arbor	Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA	32 cm (12⅝")	508 cm (200")	1857	The telescopes were restored to functionality as part of the University of Michigan's 2009 International Year of Astronomy celebration. Viewing nights and open houses have been running since then.	-

Grubb refractor, Keele Observatory	Oxford, England	Keele University, England (since 1962), in use for the public	31.0 cm (12.25")	4.39 m	1874	Still awaiting the reunion with its 19th-century camera used in the Carte du Ciel project and to prove Einstein's general relativity theory during the 1919 solar eclipse.	-

Northumberland Telescope, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University	Cambridge, England	Still in use by Cambridge University Astronomical Society and Cambridge Astronomical Association	30 cm (12")	5.95m	1833	Original lens 11.6" made by Cauchoix of Paris, replaced on 150th anniversary by 12" lens designed by R.V. Willstrop, and made by A.E.	-

Urania Sternwarte (Zurich)	Zurich, Switzerland	30 cm (12″)	5.05 m	1907	by Zeiss	Zürich - Lindenhof - Urania-Sternwarte - Kuppel IMG 1911.JPG

Griffith Observatory	Los Angeles	30 cm (12″)	5.03 m	1931	by Zeiss	ග්‍රිෆිත් දුරේක්‍ෂය.JPG

Clark-Refraktor Vienna Observatory	Vienna, Austrian Empire	Vienna, Austria	30 cm (12″)	5.06 m	1880	by Clark and Sons

Deutsches Museum	Munich, Germany	30 cm (12″)	5.0 m	1924	by Zeiss	-

Ladd Observatory, Brown University	Providence, Rhode Island, USA	Still in use for instruction and public education	30 cm (12″) 12.0-inch (300 mm)	4.57 m (15 ft)	1891	Lens designed by Charles S. Hastings and made by John Brashear; telescope mount by George N. Saegmuller	-

Irving Porter Church Memorial Telescope Fuertes Observatory Cornell University	Ithaca, New York	Still used for instruction and public outreach.	30 cm (12″)	4.57 m (15 ft)	1922	Optics by John Brashear, mounting by Warner & Swasey.	-

Jewett Observatory	Pullman, Washington, USA	Used for instruction and pleasure	30 cm (12")	4.57 m (15')	Assembled from older parts 1953	Alvan Clark & Sons	-

Silesian Planetarium and Astronomical Observatory	Katowice/Chorzów, Silesia, Poland	30 cm (12")	4.5 m	1955	Largest and oldest Planetarium and Astronomical Observatory in Poland. The 3rd largest in Eastern Europe (east of Germany), after Pulkovo Observatory in Saint Petersburg, Russia and Belgrade Observatory in Belgrade, Serbia	-

University of Illinois Observatory	Urbana, Illinois, USA	Used for instruction and pleasure	30 cm (12″)	4.57 m (15 ft)	1896	by John Brashear, National Historic Landmark, still used for instruction	-

Mitchel Telescope Cincinnati Observatory	Cincinnati, Ohio, USA	28 cm (11″)	1843	Merz & Mahler; Oldest professional telescope still used weekly by the public	-

Brashear Refractor Nicholas E. Wagman Observatory	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA	28 cm (11″)	1910	John Brashear, Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh

Great Refractor Kuffner Observatory	Vienna, Austria	27 cm + 15.6 cm (10.6″ + 6.1")	350 cm + 294 cm	1884 + 1890	Double telescope by Repsold and Sons, optics by Steinheil	-

Repsold Refractor (10-duims) Leiden Observatory	Leiden, Netherlands	26.6 cm (10.5″)	399,5 cm	1885	Repsold and Sons, optics by Alvan Clark & Sons

Hume Cronyn Memorial Observatory Named in memory of Hume Blake Cronyn	University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada	25.4 cm (10″)	4.37 m (172")	1940	Built by Perkin Elmer Corp. Second largest refractor in Canada. Continues as Canada's oldest public astronomy venue.

Mills Observatory	Dundee, Scotland (1951)	25 cm (10″)	1871	by T. Cooke & Sons. Training telescope at St. Andrews 1938-1951	-

Coats Observatory	Paisley, Scotland (1898)	25 cm (10″)	1898	by Howard Grubb. Replaced 5" refractor by Thomas Cooke, installed in 1883.	-

Blackett Observatory	Marlborough College Wiltshire, England	25 cm (10")	1860	by Thomas Cooke.

Quito Astronomical Observatory	Quito	La Alameda park	24 cm	1875	An operational 1875 Merz Telescopes and one of the Oldest Observatories in South America, founded in 1873.	Antique Telescope at the Quito Astronomical Observatory 002.JPG

Fraunhofer-Refraktor Berlin Observatory	Berlin-Kreuzberg, Deutsches Kaiserreich	Moved 1913 to Munich, Germany	24 cm (9.6″)	4 m (13.4′)	1835	Used to discover Neptune; in Deutsches Museum, München since 1913	-

Great Dorpat Refractor (Fraunhofer) Dorpat/Tartu Observatory	Dorpat, Governorate of Livonia	Tartu, Estonia	24 cm (9.6″)	4 m (13.4′)	1824	"..the first modern, achromatic, refracting telescope."	-

Sentence(s)

Roper Mountain Science Center is the eighth largest refractor telescope in the United States.

final_sentence: Roper Mountain Science Center is the eighth largest refractor telescope in the United States.