The World's Largest Optical Telescopes



Operational

Aperture (meters) Name Location Latitude; Longitude
Altitude		 Comments
10.0 Keck Mauna Kea, Hawaii 19 50 N; 155 28 W
4123 m		 mirror composed of 36 segments
Keck II future optical interferometry!
~10 SALT South African Astronomical Observatory 32 23 S; 20 49 E; 1759 m based on the HET design
9.2 Hobby-Eberly Mt. Fowlkes, Texas 30 40 N; 104 1 W
2072 m		 very inexpensive: spherical segmented mirror; fixed elevation; spectroscopy only
8.4 Large Binocular Telescope Mt. Graham, Arizona 32 42 N; 109 53 W
3170 m		 eventually will have a pair of 8.4-m mirrors giving the light gathering of an 11.8m and the resolution of a 23-m
8.3 Subaru Mauna Kea, Hawaii 19 50 N; 155 28 W
4100 m		 NAOJ
8.2 Antu Cerro Paranal, Chile 24 38 S; 70 24 W
2635m		 now operate independently in the future will be units of Very Large Telescope
Kueyen
Melipal
Yepun
8.1 Gillett Mauna Kea, Hawaii 1950 N; 155 28 W
4100 m		 aka Gemini North
Gemini South Cerro Pachon, Chile 30 20 S;70 59 W (approx)
2737 m		 twin of Gemini North
6.5 MMT Mt. Hopkins, Arizona 31 41 N; 110 53 W
2600 m		  
Walter Baade La Serena, Chile 29 00.2 S; 4 42 48 W
2282 m		 aka Magellan I; Las Campanas Obs.
Landon Clay aka Magellan II
6.0 Bolshoi Teleskop Azimutalnyi Nizhny Arkhyz, Russia 43 39 N; 41 26 E
2070m		 Large Altazimuth Telescope
LZT British Columbia, Canada 49.28 N; 122.57 W
395m		 Liquid mirror, points only at the zenith; UBC
5.0 Hale Palomar Mountain, California 33 21 N; 116 52 W
1900 m		  
4.2 William Herschel La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain 28 46 N; 17 53 W
2400 m		 Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos
SOAR Cerro Pachon, Chile 70 44 W; 30 14 S
2738 m		 Brazil/USA; CTIO
4.0 Victor Blanco Cerro Tololo, Chile 30 10 S;70 49 W
2200 m		 CTIO
3.9 Anglo-Australian Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia 31 17 S;149 04 E Siding Spring Obs.
3.8 Mayall Kitt Peak, Arizona 31 57 N; 111 37 W
2100 m		 NOAO
UKIRT Mauna Kea, Hawaii 19 50 N; 155 28 W
4200 m		 dedicated to infrared
3.7 AEOS Maui, Hawaii 20 42 30 N; 156 15 29 W
3058 m		 mostly military
3.6 "360" Cerro La Silla, Chile 29 15 S; 70 44 W
2400 m		 European Southern Obs.
Canada-France-Hawaii Mauna Kea, Hawaii 19 50 N; 155 28 W
4200 m		  
Telescopio Nazionale Galileo La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain 28 45 N; 17 53 W
2387 m		 Italian
3.5 MPI-CAHA Calar Alto, Spain 37 13 N; 2 33 W
2200 m		  
New Technology Cerro La Silla, Chile 29 15 S; 70 44 W
2400 m		 European Southern Obs.
ARC Apache Point, New Mexico 32 47 N; 105 49 W
2788 m		 mostly remote controlled
WIYN Kitt Peak, Arizona 31 57 N; 111 37 W
2100 m		 Wisconsin, Indiana, Yale, NOAO
Starfire Kirtland AFB, New Mexico
1900 m		 military
3.0 Shane Mount Hamilton, California 37 21 N; 121 38 W
1300 m		 Lick Observatory
NASA IRTF Mauna Kea, Hawaii 19 50 N; 155 28 W
4160 m		 infrared
2.7 Harlan Smith Mt. Locke, Texas 30 40 N; 104 1 W
2100 m		 McDonald Obs.; see also
2.6 BAO Byurakan, Armenia 40 20N; 44 17 E
1405 m		 Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory
Shajn Crimea, Ukraine 44 44 N; 34 E
600 m		 Crimean Astrophysical Observatory
2.5 Hooker Mt. Wilson, California 34 13N; 118 4 W
1700 m		 built in 1917
Isaac Newton La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain 28 45 N; 17 53 W
2382 m		 Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos
Nordic Optical  
du Pont La Serena, Chile 29 00.2 S; 4 42 48 W
2282 m		 Las Campanas Obs.
Sloan Digital Sky Survey Apache Point, New Mexico 32 47 N; 105 49 W
2788 m		 huge wide-field detector
2.45 CHARA Mt. Wilson, California 34 13N; 118 4 W
1700 m		 interferometer using 6 1-m scopes
2.4 Hiltner Kitt Peak, Arizona 31 57 N; 111 37 W
2100 m		 MDM Observatory
Hubble Space Telescope Low Earth orbit! varies
600 km		  
2.3 WIRO Jelm Mtn., Wyoming 41 03 N; 106 00 W
2900 m		 infrared
ANU Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia 31 17 S;149 04 E Siding Spring Obs.
Bok Kitt Peak, Arizona 31 57 N; 111 37 W
2100 m		 Steward Obs.
Vainu Bappu Kavalur, India 12 34 N; 78 50 E
700 m		 Indian Institude of Astrophysics
2.2 ESO-MPI Cerro La Silla, Chile 29 15 S; 70 44 W
2335 m		  
MPI-CAHA Calar Alto, Spain 37 13 N; 2 33 W
2200 m		  
UH Mauna Kea, Hawaii 19 50 N; 155 28 W
4200 m		  

Also

2.1 Kitt Peak
2.1 McDonald (Struve)
2.1 INAOE, Puebla, Mexico
2.1 UNAM, San Pedro Martir, Mexico
2.1 El Leoncito, Argentina
2.0 Ondrejov, Czech Republic
2.0 Tusi Astronomical Obs., Shemakha, Azerbaijan
2.0 Hanle, India (a few hundred meters higher than Mauna Kea)
2.0 (Schmidt) Tautenburg Germany
2.0 Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Terskel, Caucasus
2.0 MAGNUM (Haleakala, may still be in progress)
2.0 Lyot, Pic-du-Midi, France
2.0 Faulkes Telescope North
2.0 Faulkes Telescope South

Under Construction

Aperture Name Location Comments
21.4 (7x8.4) Giant Magellan Telescope Chile? six off-axis segments plus one central segment form one optical surface
16.4 (4x8.2) Very Large Telescope Cerro Paranal, Chile all four units now operational; will be combined as an interferometer
14.6 (2x10) Keck Interferometer Mauna Kea, Hawaii Keck I and II plus several small outrigger scopes
10.4 Gran Telescopio Canarias La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain segmented mirror based on Keck
8 LSST Cerro Pachon, Chile aka Dark Matter Telescope; a fast wide field survey scope
4.2 LAMOST Xinglong Station, China Beijing Astronomical Observatory
DCT Happy Jack, Arizona Lowell Observatory wide field telescope
4 Vista Cerro Paranal, Chile wide field survey scope
2.5 SOFIA stratosphere airborne infrared
VST Cerro Paranal, Chile wide field survey scope
2.3 Aristarchos Mt. Helmos, Greece National Observatory of Athens
4x1.8 Pan-STARRS Hawaii Four separate telescopes; optimized for surveys; cheaper than LSST
2.4+10x1.4 Magdalena Ridge Observatory Socorro, New Mexico one single scope plus 10 mirror interferometer

Extremely Large Telescope Studies

Aperture Name Comments
100 OWL OverWhelmingly Large Telescope
50 Euro50  
42 E-ELT European Extremely Large Telescope
30-50 MaxAT  
~40 LAMA array of liquid mirrors
30 TMT Thirty Meter Telescope (was CELT, VLOT, GSMT)
Others

Other interesting projects

Aperture Name Location Comments
42 LAMA Chile liquid mirror array
25 Cornell Atacama Telescope Atacama, Chile optimized for far IR, next to ALMA
6.5 JWST L2 Halo orbit aka NGST; cost reduced from initial 8m plans
4 ATST Haleakala, Hawaii Advanced Technology Solar Telescope
2.5 The MLO 100 inch Mt. Laguna, CA  
2.0 Indian Astronomical Observatory Hanle, India 4500m altitude
1.86 Dominion Astrophysical Observatory Victoria, Canada was once (briefly) the largest telescope in the world
1.8 The Leviathan of Parsonstown Birr, Ireland Lord Rosse's famous scope restored
1.5 Hexapod Telescope La Silla unique mount utilizing 6 hydraulic "legs"
1.2 Samuel Oschin Telescope Palomar Mountain, California found the "tenth planet"
1 Yerkes Observatory Williams Bay, Wisconsin world's largest refractor

References

This is a local mirror version of the Bill Arnett Original




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Last update: January 21, 2007
kielkopf@louisville.edu