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List of largest optical telescopes in the British Isles

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The 28-inch (71 cm) Grubb refractor's dome at Greenwich.
Discovered as Georgium Sidus, later known as Uranus was one of the famous discoveries made from the British Isles.
The mirror from the 40-foot telescope, on display at the Science Museum, London.
Former Royal Greenwich Observatory, Herstmonceux, East Sussex; this was an important site for telescopes in the latter 20th century in England.
Closeup of lower end of a 28-inch (71 cm) aperture telescope.
The old Isaac Newton Telescope dome.

List of largest optical telescopes in Ireland and the United Kingdom is a list of the largest optical telescopes in the British Isles, including in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The most famous telescopes include Herschel's reflector, with which he discovered Georgium Sidus (the planet Uranus), and the Leviathan of Parsonstown which at 72 inches (1.83 metres) was for decades the largest aperture telescope in the world. In the 20th century many older telescopes are popular tourist attractions, such as at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. There are also a number of modest instruments at universities used for various astronomical projects or education.

The largest optical telescope in Britain was the Isaac Newton Telescope, which had a 98-inch (2.5 m) mirror; it was located at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Herstmonceux from 1965 to 1980, but was then relocated to Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, Canary Islands.

The list is not representative of the largest telescopes operated by the United Kingdom or Ireland, which by the 20th century were building large telescopes overseas or in the southern hemisphere for better weather or other reasons.

Current list

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The following is a non-comprehensive list of optical telescopes currently located in the British Isles with an aperture of 24 inches (61 cm) or greater:

Reflecting telescopes
Name Effective aperture Type Location Operator First light Notes
Rosse Six Foot Telescope (reconstructed) 72 in (183 cm) Newtonian reflector Birr, Leinster Republic of Ireland Birr Castle 1999 Largest optical telescope in Ireland.[1]
38-inch Congo Schmidt 38 in (96.5 cm) Reflector Herstmonceux, East Sussex England The Observatory Science Centre 1960 Largest optical telescope in UK, but never used due to flawed optics.[2]
James Gregory Telescope 37 in (94 cm) Cassegrain reflector St Andrews, Fife Scotland University of St Andrews 1962 Largest operational optical telescope in the UK.[3]
Cambridge 36-inch telescope 36 in (91.4 cm) Reflector Cambridge, Cambridgeshire England University of Cambridge 1955 Largest optical telescope still in use in England.[4]
36-inch Yapp telescope 36 in (91.4 cm) Reflector Herstmonceux, East Sussex England The Observatory Science Centre 1932 [5]
Edinburgh 36-inch telescope 36 in (91.4 cm) Reflector Edinburgh Scotland Royal Observatory Edinburgh 1930 No longer operational.[6]
34-inch Hewitt Camera 34 in (86.4 cm) Reflector Herstmonceux, East Sussex England The Observatory Science Centre 1950s [7]
Perren Telescope 31.5 in (80 cm) Ritchey–Chrétien reflector Mill Hill, London England UCL Observatory 2019 [8]
Thomson/Regan/Owen Reflector 30 in (76.2 cm) Reflector Great Sutton, Cheshire England David Thomson 2023 [9]
John Wall refractor 30 in (76.2 cm) Refractor Hanwell, Oxfordshire England Hanwell Community Observatory 1999 Largest refractor in the British Isles.[10]
30" Dobsonian 30 in (76.2 cm) Reflector Todmorden, West Yorkshire England The Astronomy Centre 1986 [11]
Thompson 30-inch Reflector 30 in (76.2 cm) Reflector Herstmonceux, East Sussex England The Observatory Science Centre 1896 [12]
Greenwich 28-inch refractor 28 in (71.1 cm) Refractor Greenwich, London England Royal Observatory, Greenwich 1893 [13]
Moses Holden Telescope 27.6 in (70.1 cm) Reflector Preston, Lancashire England University of Lancashire 2015 [14]
Thompson 26-inch Refractor 26 in (66 cm) Refractor Herstmonceux, East Sussex England The Observatory Science Centre 1897 [15]
24 / 17" Schmidt Camera 24 in (61 cm) Reflector Knighton, Powys Wales The Spaceguard Centre 1950 Largest optical telescope in Wales.[16]
Thornton Telescope 24 in (61 cm) Reflector Keele, Staffordshire England Keele University 1975 [17]
24" Telescope 24 in (61 cm) Reflector Sherwood Observatory, Nottinghamshire England Sherwood Observatory 1984 [18]
24" Telescope 24 in (61 cm) Reflector Bayfordbury, Hertfordshire England University of Hertfordshire 2021 [19]

Historical

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  • Isaac Newton Telescope at Herstmonceux, 98 in (249 cm) (1965–1979)
  • Leviathan of Parsonstown, 1842–c. 1890
  • 3-foot telescope at Parsons
  • RGO telescopes at different points in its history[20]
    • 38-inch Hargreaves Reflector (1960)
    • Yapp 36-inch Reflector (1932)
    • 30-inch Steavenson Reflector (1939)
    • 28-inch Refractor (1893)
    • Thompson Telescope with a 26-inch refractor and 30-inch reflector on one mounting (1896)
    • Lassell 2-foot Reflector (1845)
    • Isaac Roberts 20-inch reflector (1885)
    • Western Equatorial (c. 1824)
    • 13-inch Astrographic Refractor (1890)
    • Merz 12.8-inch Visual Refractor (1859–1893) (this was replaced by the 28-inch Grubb in the onion dome)
    • Thomson 9-inch Photographic Refractor (c. 1888)
    • Sheepshanks refractor 6.7-inch (1838) (aka Sheepshanks Equatorial)
    • 6-inch Franklin Adams Camera (1898)
    • Shuckburgh telescope a 4.1-inch aperture Refractor (1791)
  • At the Observatory Science Center (at Herstmonceux)[21]
  • Markree Observatory 13.3" Cauchoix (the largest refractor of the early 1830s)
  • A.A. Commons reflectors (later reworked into Crossley and Harvard telescopes)
  • Lassel's reflector, this 24-inch metal mirror telescope was used to discover the moons Triton and Hyperion.[22]
  • Newton's reflector
  • 40-foot telescope (England)
  • Armagh Observatory 15-inch Grubb reflecting telescope.[23] Specula metal mirror mounted on an equatorial, with clockwork-drive.[23]
  • Bedford Observatory Tully 5.9-inch refractor (8.5 feet focal length); Dollond mount with Sheepshanks clockwork drive.[24]
  • Cambridge Observatory 36-inch (3 feet = 91.44 cm) aperture reflector

Observations

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A noted accomplishment of the biggest telescope at the time, Ross's "six foot" leviathan, was the observation of the spiral structure of M51, which was presented at Cambridge in the summer of 1845.[25] Herschel was also quite prolific discovering a planet and many moons of the Solar system with his reflectors.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Great Telescope at Birr Castle". Birr Castle. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  2. ^ "The 38-inch Congo Schmidt". The Observatory Science Centre. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  3. ^ "JGT – Observatory". The University of St Andrews. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  4. ^ "36-Inch Telescope". Institute of Astronomy. University of Cambridge. 12 September 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  5. ^ "The 36-inch Yapp Reflector". The Observatory Science Centre. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  6. ^ "ROE Heritage and the Crawford Collection". The Royal Observatory Edinburgh. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  7. ^ "The 34-inch Hewitt Camera". The Observatory Science Centre. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  8. ^ "Perren Telescope". University College London. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  9. ^ "Making the 30 inch F3 Telescope". Thomson Telescopes. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  10. ^ "Hanwell Community Observatory". Hanwell Community Observatory. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  11. ^ "The rebuilt 30" Dobsonian". The Astronomy Centre.[dead link]
  12. ^ "The Thompson 30-inch reflecting telescope". The Observatory Science Centre. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  13. ^ Wright, D. C. (1990). "The 28-inch Refractor at Greenwich - a History of Two Telescopes". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society. 31 (4). Royal Astronomical Society: 551–566. Bibcode:1990QJRAS..31..551W.
  14. ^ "Alston Observatory". The University of Lancashire. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  15. ^ "The Thompson 26-inch refracting telescope". The Observatory Science Centre. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  16. ^ "Project DRAX in Detail". The Spaceguard Centre. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  17. ^ "1970s, Keele University". Keele University. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  18. ^ "The Observatory Telescope". Sherwood Observatory. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  19. ^ "Telescopes". University of Hertfordshire. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  20. ^ "Telescopes".
  21. ^ "Observatory Science Centre at Herstmonceux". Millseys Pages. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  22. ^ "The Royal Observatory Greenwich - where east meets west: Telescope: The Lassell 2-foot Reflector (1847)". Royal Observatory Greenwich. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  23. ^ a b Butler, C.J. "The 15-inch Equatorial Reflector by Thomas Grubb at Armagh Observatory".
  24. ^ King, H. C. (1949). "1949PA.....57...74K Page 74". Popular Astronomy. 57: 74. Bibcode:1949PA.....57...74K. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  25. ^ New Scientist. Reed Business Information. 4 August 1983.
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