EXPLORING THE UNIVERSE
Telescopes Observatory Aperture Lat. Long. Elev., Completed
min m
REFLECTORS
Keck I W. M. Keck Observatory, Mauna Kea, Hawaii, USA 9.82 387 19° 49’ N 155° 28’ W 4150 1992
Keck II W. M. Keck Observatory, Mauna Kea, Hawaii, USA 9.82 387 19° 49’ N 155° 28’ W 4150 1996
Hobby-Eberly Telescope Mt Fowlkes, Texas, USA 9.2 362 30° 40’ N 101° 01’ W 2072 1998
Subaru Telescope Mauna Kea, Hawaii, USA 8.3 327 19° 50’ N 155° 28’ W 4100 1999
Antu (first unit of VLT) Cerro Paranal, Chile 8.2 323 24° 38’ S 70° 24’ W 2635 1998
Kueyen (second unit of VLT) Cerro Paranal, Chile 8.2 323 24° 38’ S 70° 24’ W 2635 1999
Melipal (third unit of VLT) Cerro Paranal, Chile 8.2 323 24° 38’ S 70° 24’ W 2635 2000
Yepun (fourth unit of VLT) Cerro Paranal, Chile 8.2 323 24° 38’ S 70° 24’ W 2635 2001
Gemini North (Frederick C. Gillett Telescope) Mauna Kea, Hawaii, USA 8.0 315 19° 50’ N 155° 28’ W 4100 1999
Gemini South Cerro Pachón, Chile 8.0 315 39° 33’ S 70° 98’ W 2737 2002
Mono-Mirror Telescope Mount Hopkins Observatory, Arizona, USA 6.5 256 31° 04’ N 110° 53’ W 2608 1999
Bolshoi Teleskop Azimutalnyi Special Astrophysical Observatory, Mt Pastukhov, Russia 6.0 236 43° 39’ N 41° 26’ E 2100 1975
Hale Telescope Palomar Observatory, Palomar Mtn, California, USA 5.08 200 33° 21’ N 116° 52’ W 1706 1948
William Herschel Telescope Obs. del Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma, Canary Is 4.2 165 28° 46’ N 17° 53’ W 2332 1987
Victor Blanco Telescope Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory, Chile 4.001 158 30° 10’ S 70° 49’ W 2215 1976
Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) Anglo-Australian Telescope Siding Spring, Australia 3.893 153 31° 17’ S 149° 04’ E 1149 1975
Nicholas U. Mayall Reflector Kitt Peak National Observatory, Arizona, USA 3.81 150 31° 58’ N 111° 36’ W 2120 1973
United Kingdom Infra-Red Telescope (UKIRT) Joint Astronomy Centre, Mauna Kea, Hawaii, USA 3.802 150 19° 50’ N 155° 28’ W 4194 1978
Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFH) Canada-France-Hawaii Tel. Corp., Mauna Kea, Hawaii, USA 3.58 141 19° 49’ N 155° 28’ W 4200 1979
3.6-m Telescope European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile 3.57 141 29° 16’ S 70° 44’ W 2387 1977
3.5-m Telescope Calar Alto Observatory, Calar Alto, Spain 3.5 138 37° 13’ N 02° 32’ W 2168 1984
New Technology Telescope (NTT) European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile 3.5 138 29° 16’ S 70° 44’ W 2353 1989
Astrophys. Research Consortium (ARC) Apache Point, New Mexico, USA 3.5 138 32° 47’ N 105° 49’ W 2800 1993
WIYN Kitt Peak, Arizona, USA 3.5 138 31° 57’ N 111° 37’ W 2100 1998
Starfire Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, USA 3.5 138 classified classified 1900 1998
Galileo La Palma, Canary Islands 3.5 138 28° 45’ N 17° 53’ W 2370 1998
C. Donald Shane Telescope Lick Observatory, Mt Hamilton, California, USA 3.05 120 37° 21’ N 121° 38’ W 1290 1959
Nodo (liquid mirror) New Mexico, USA 3.0 118 32° 59’ N 105° 44’ W 2758 1999
NASA Infra-Red Facility (IRTF) Mauna Kea Observatory, Mauna Kea, Hawaii, USA 3.0 118 19° 50’ N 155° 28’ W 4208 1979
Harlan Smith Telescope McDonald Observatory, Mt Locke, Texas, USA 2.72 107 30° 40’ N 104° 01’ W 2075 1969
UBC-Laval Telescope (LMT) Univ. of Brit. Col. and Laval Univ., Vancouver, Canada 2.7 106 49° 07’ N 122° 35’ W 50 1992
Shajn 2.6-m Reflector Crimean Astrophys. Observatory, Crimea, Ukraine 2.64 104 44° 44’ N 34° 00’ E 550 1960
Byurakan 2.6-m Reflector Byurakan Observatory, Mt Aragatz, Armenia 2.64 104 40° 20’ N 44° 18’ E 1500 1976
Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) Obs. del Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma, Canary Is 2.56 101 28° 45’ N 17° 53’ W 2382 1989
Irénée du Pont Telescope Las Campanas Observatory, Las Campanas, Chile 2.54 100 29° 00’ N 70° 42’ W 2282 1976
Hooker Telescope (100 inch) Mount Wilson Observatory, California, USA 2.5 100 34° 13’ N 118° 03’ W 1742 1917
Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) Obs. del Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma, Canary Is 2.5 100 28° 46’ N 17° 53’ W 2336 1984
Sloan Digital Sky Survey Apache Point, New Mexico, USA 2.5 100 32° 47’ N 105° 49’ W 2788 1999
Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Space Telescope Science Inst., Baltimore, USA 2.4 94 orbital orbital 1990
REFRACTORS
Yerkes 40-inch Telescope Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay, Wisconsin, USA 1.01 40 42° 34’ N 88° 33’ W 334 1897
36-inch Refractor Lick Observatory, Mt Hamilton, California, USA 0.89 35 37° 20’ N 121° 39’ W 1290 1888
33-inch Meudon Refractor Paris Observatory, Meudon, France 0.83 33 48° 48’ N 02° 14’ E 162 1889
Potsdam Refractor Potsdam Observatory, Germany 0.8 31 52° 23’ N 13° 04’ E 107 1899
Thaw Refractor Allegheny Observatory, Pittsburgh, USA 0.76 30 40° 29’ N 80° 01’ W 380 1985
Lunette Bischoffscheim Nice Observatory, France 0.74 29 43° 43’ N 07° 18’ E 372 1886
SCHMIDT TELESCOPES
2-m Telescope Karl Schwarzschild Observatory,Tautenberg, Germany 1.34 53 50° 59’ N 11° 43’ E 331 1950
Oschin 48-inch Telescope Palomar Observatory, California , USA 1.24 49 33° 21’ S 116° 51’ W 1706 1948
United Kingdom Schmidt Telescope (UKS) Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, Siding Spring, Australia 1.24 49 31° 16’ S 149° 04’ E 1145 1973
Kiso Schmidt Telescope Kiso Observatory, Kiso, Japan 1.05 41 35° 48’ N 137° 38’ E 1130 1975
3TA-10 Schmidt Telescope Byurakan Astrophys. Observatory, Mt Aragatz, Armenia 1.00 39 40° 20’ N 44° 30’ E 1450 1961
Kvistaberg Schmidt Telescope Uppsala University Observatory, Kvistaberg, Sweden 1.00 39 59° 30’ N 17° 36’ E 33 1963
ESO 1-m Schmidt Telescope European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile 1.00 39 29° 15’ S 70° 44’ W 2318 1972
Venezuela 1-m Schmidt Telescope Centro F. J. Duarte, Merida, Venezuela 1.00 39 08° 47’ N 70° 52’ W 3610 1978THE WORLD’S LARGEST TELESCOPES VLT Kueyen,the second
unit of the VLT (Very Large
Telescope). The VLT, at
Paranal in Chile, is much the
most powerful telescope
ever built. It has four
8.2-metre (323-inch) mirrors,
working together, named
Antu (the Sun), Kueyen
(Moon), Melipal (Southern
Cross) and Yepun (Sirius).
Kueyen, shown here, came
into operation in 1999,
following Antu in 1998.
These names come from the
Mapuche language of the
people of Chile south of
Santiago. Very Large Telescope
(VLT).Shown here are
(from left to right) Antu,
Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun.
Working together as an
interferometer, these
instruments deliver
resolution equivalent to that
of a single 16-m (624-inch)
telescope.B Atl of Univ Phil'03stp 3/4/03 12:22 pm Page 19