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Last modified: 2004/07/22

LINKS
 
EXTREMELY LARGE TELESCOPES
 
There is a number of ongoing design studies for telescopes with diameters of 15 meters upwards. The list below is probably incomplete, as new concepts arise, others merge.
 
Name
Aperture
(m)
.

TMT
30
US-Canada (AURA, CALTECH, University of California and ACURA) teaming up.
GMT
25
The Giant Magellan Telescope
EURO50
50
Collaboration between Swedish, Spanish, Finnish and Irish institutes.
LAMA
42
Large Aperture Mirror Array
 
OPTICON - OPTICAL-INFRARED COORDINATION NETWORK
 
OPTICON is a project funded by the European commission as part of its Sixth Framework Programme. OPTICON brings together providers and users of European astronomical infrastructures to identify common approaches and improve access for the benefit of all European astronomy.
 
ALREADY QUITE LARGE
 
Telescopes of the 20th century allowed giant leaps in science, from revealing the true nature of galaxies to finding plausible desciptions of the very first moments of the universe. It would be impossible to give proper credit to all of these incredible science machines; the list below aims only at providing links to the largest and best known optical telescopes.
Name
Aperture (m)
Location .

Keck I & II
2 x 10.0
Mauna Kea, Hawaii Segmented telescopes, interferometer.
Hobby-Eberly
9.2
Mt Fowlkes, Texas A fixed elevation, low cost spectroscopic telescope.
Subaru
8.3
Mauna Kea, Hawaii Active telescope made in Japan.
VLT
4 x 8.2
Cerro Paranal, Chile Very Large Telescope; Europe's flagship.
Gemini
2 x 8.0

Mauna Kea, Hawaii
Cerro Pachon, Chile

Twin 8-m telescopes in the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
Magellan
2 x 6.5

Las Campanas, Chile

Twin 6.5-m telescopes; also known as the Walter Baade and Landon Clay telescopes.
MMT
6.5
Mt Hopkins, US, Az Replacement of the 4.2-m Multi-Mirror Telescope
Bolshoi Teleskop Azimutalnyi
6.0
Nizhny Arkhyz, Russia Breaking limits, and the first large altazimuth telescope
Hale
5.0
Palomar Mountain, US,
Ca.
Nothing less than a legend
William Herschel
4.2
La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain Altazimuthal; largest member of the famous Isaac Newton Group of telescopes.
Victor Blanco
4.0
Cero Tololo, Chile The largest telescope in the Southern hemisphere until 1998.
AAT
3.9
Siding Springs,
Australia
The Anglo-Australian Telescope
Mayall
3.8
Kitt Peak, US, Az.  
UKIRT
3.8
Mauna Kea, Hawaii Dedicated to infrared
AEOS
3.7
Haleakala, Maui (Hawaii) Maui Space Surveillance System; mostly military
360
3.6
Cerro la Silla, Chile Europe's first major telescope in the Southern hemisphere.
CFHT
3.6
Mauna Kea, Hawaii Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope
TNG
3.6
La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (Italy)
Calar Alto 3.5
3.5
Calar Alto, Spain The largest telescope in continental Europe
NTT
3.5
Cerro la Silla, Chile New Technology Telescope; first active telescope
ARC
3.5
Apache Point, NM, US Astrophysical Research Consortium
WIYN
3.5
Kitt Peak, US, Az. Kitt Peak's latest acquisition

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

VLTI
4 x 8.2
Cerro Paranal, Chile The 4 VLT telescopes and auxilliary 1.8-m combined in an interferometer
Keck Interferometer
2 x 10.0
Mauna Kea, Hawaii The twin Keck and auxilliary telescopes combined in an interferometer
GTC
10.4
La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain Gran Telescopio Canarias; a segmented mirror design inspired from the Keck
SALT
9.2
Sutherland, South Africa South Africa's Large Telescope. Design inspired from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET)
LBT
2 x 8.4-m
Mt. Graham, Az, US Large Binocular Telescope (formerly Columbus)

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