List of largest optical refracting telescopes

Refracting telescopes use a lens to focus light, helping us see stars and other objects far away in space. One of the biggest is the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. Its lens is 43 inches wide, but only 39 inches can be used for looking through.

The second largest is the Yerkes Observatory 40-inch refractor. It has been used for over a hundred years to study the sky and learn more about our universe.

Other large refracting telescopes include the James Lick telescope and the Meudon Great Refractor. Most of these big telescopes are called great refractors. They use special lens pairs to move smoothly. Some newer telescopes, like a solar telescope from the 21st century, use a single lens instead of a pair. There was also a telescope shown at the Great Paris Exhibition in 1900 with a huge lens. Making these telescopes big and clear has always been hard because of cost, quality, and how useful they can be.

List

This list shows some examples, like the Great Paris telescope, which used a mirror. It also includes some solar telescopes with special ways to bend light. The SST has a light-bending opening of 98 cm (39.37 inches), even though the lens is 110 cm (43.31 inches) big. It uses one piece of glass, while most telescopes on this list use two pieces of glass put together.

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 ft)	1900	Fixed lens, scrapped. Aimed via a 2 m reflecting siderostat
Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope, ORM	La Palma, Spain	-	110 cm (43") total diameter 98 cm (39") clear aperture	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 (39").
Yerkes Observatory	Williams Bay, Wisconsin, USA	-	102 cm (40")	19.4 m (62 ft)	1897	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"+24.41")	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
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
Innes Telescope	Observatory Johannesburg, South Africa	Observatory Johannesburg, South Africa	67 cm (26.5")	11.6 m	1909-1925	Still in operation for educational purposes. By Grubb
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. Destroyed by bush fire on January 18, 2003.
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
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. Penteli in Greece in 1957. Currently used only for educational purposes as part of the visitor center.
Craig telescope	Wandsworth Common, London	Dismantled 1857	61 cm (24")	24.5 m (80 ft)	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
Großer Refraktor (Great Refractor)Hamburg Observatory	Bergedorf, Germany	-	60 cm (23.6")	9 m	1911	by Repsold and Sons, optics (visual + photographic lens) by Steinheil
Grubb Parsons Double Refractor	Saltsjöbaden, Sweden	-	60 + 50 cm (23.6" + 19.7")	8.0 m	1930	Stockholm 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	Oakland, California, USA (2000)	50 cm (20")	8.5 m (28 ft)	1914	"Rachel", Warner & Swazey Company (Optics John A Brashear Company) Refurbished 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	Retired?	50 cm (20") x 2	4.67 m (14 ft)	1941/1962 (2nd lens)	F7.4
Merz-Repsold 19 inch telescope Brera Observatory	Milan, Italy	Exposed in Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci	49 cm (19.29")	7 m (22.97 ft)	1882	Largest refracting telescope in Italy
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, Massachusetts, USA	-	46 cm (18")	(25 ft)	1903	by Alvan Clark & Sons
Flower Observatory	Philadelphia, USA	Dark Sky Project, Lake Tekapo, New Zealand	46 cm (18")	6.7 m (22.6 ft)	1894	by John Brashear	From 2016 operational at Lake Tekapo, New Zealand.
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
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
Merz & Mahler Refractor, Pulkovo observatory	Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire	Rescued to Leningrad city in WWII (?)	38 cm (15")	6.9 m	1839	(original) twin of the Harvard Great Refractor
Lunette coudée Lyon Observatory	Saint-Genis-Laval, France	-	36.6 cm	7.66 m	1887	Equatorial coudé by Maurice Loewy
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
Markree Observatory	County Sligo, Republic of Ireland	Moved to Singapore, then the University of Manila	33.8 cm (13.3")	7.6 m (25′)	1834	Used to discover 9 Metis; the largest refractor in the World for several decades
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. The original telescope (both camera and guide scopes), mount and dome were re-erected at Bickley
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 Observatory	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
H. Fitz 12.6" refractor Detroit Observatory in Ann Arbor	Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA		32 cm (12.6 in) 32 cm	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.
South Telescope, Dunsink Observatory	Dublin, Ireland	Dublin, Ireland	30 cm (12")		1868	by Grubb, the telescope is still used for various outreach activities
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. Optics of Cambridge.
Urania Sternwarte (Zurich)	Zurich, Switzerland	-	30 cm (12")	5.05 m	1907	by Zeiss
Griffith Observatory	Los Angeles	-	30 cm (12")	5.03 m	1931	by Zeiss
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")	4.6 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 ft)	1953	Lens assembled in 1887-1889 by 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
Equatorial Refractor Sydney Observatory	Sydney, Australia	Still in use for education and public outreach	28.956 cm (11.4")	-	1874	by Hugo Schroeder, used to view transit of Venus that occurred on 9 December 1874
Schroeder Refractor	Laverne, California, USA	Used for pleasure and public outreach	28 cm (11")	4.57 m	1975	Largest completely amateur made, and largest portable classical refractor
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
Äquatoreal (Equatorial) Hamburg Observatory	Millerntor Observatory, Hamburg, Germany	Hamburg Observatory, Bergedorf, Germany	26 cm (10.2")	3 m	1867	Repsold and Sons, optics by G. & S. Merz
Hume Cronyn Memorial Observatory	Western University London, Ontario, Canada	-	25.4 cm (10")	4.386 m (172")	1940	by Perkin-Elmer Corp. Glass from Chance Brothers.
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 (9.6")		1875	An operational 1875 Merz telescope and one of the Oldest Observatories in South America, founded in 1873.
Fraunhofer Refractor, United States Naval Observatory (Foggy Bottom)	Foggy Bottom, D.C., USA		24.4 cm (9.6")		1844
Fraunhofer-Refraktor Berlin Observatory	Berlin-Kreuzberg, Kingdom of Prussia, German Confederation	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 (Old Building)	Dorpat, Governorate of Livonia	Tartu, Estonia	24 cm (9.6")	4 m (13.4′)	1824	"...the first modern, achromatic, refracting telescope."