Large Solar Telescopes After 1900
Ground-based professional observatory telescopes at optical wavelengths in a chronological list.
Solar telescopes often have multiple focal lengths, and use various combination of mirrors (such as coelostats), lenses, and tubes for instruments including spectrographs, cameras, or coronographs. There are many types of instruments that have been designed to observe Earth's Sun, for example, in the 20th century solar towers were common.
| Name/Observatory | Image | Aperture d. | Year(s) | Location | Country(s) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COronal Solar Magnetism Observatory (COSMO) | - | 150 150 cm | proposed | Hawaii, USA | United States | |
| National Large Solar Telescope | - | 200200 cm | proposed | Merak Village, Ladakh, India | India | |
| Chinese Giant Solar Telescope | - | 500 500–800 cm | planned | Western part of China | China | Will be the world's largest solar telescope when completed. |
| European Solar Telescope (EST) | - | 400 400+ cm | planned | Canary Islands | 15 European countries | |
| Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) | - | 424 424 cm | planned | Maui, Hawaii, USA | United States | |
| GREGOR solar telescope, Teide Obs. | 150150 cm | 2012– | Tenerife, Spain | Germany | ||
| BBO NST, BBS Obs. | 160160 cm | 2008– | California, USA | United States | 2nd Largest aperture solar telescope | |
| New Vacuum Solar Telescope (NVST) | - | 100 100 cm | 2010– | Yunnan Astronomical Observatory, China | China | world's largest vacuum solar telescope. |
| ONSET (Optical and Near-Infrared Solar Eruption Tracer) | - | 27.5 3x27,5 cm | 2010– | Yunnan Astronomical Observatory, China | China | The ONSET consists of four tubes: (1) a near-infrared vacuum tube, with an aperture of 27.5 cm, (2) a chromospheric vacuum tube, with an aperture of 27.5 cm, (3) a WL vacuum tube, with an aperture of 20 cm and (4) a guiding tube. |
| Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope(SST), ORM | 100100 cm | 2002– | La Palma, Spain | Sweden | ||
| Prairie View Solar Observatory (PVSO) | 04535 cm | 1999– | Texas, USA | United States | ||
| Dutch Open Telescope (DOT), ORM | 04545 cm | 1997– | La Palma, Spain | Netherlands | ||
| THÉMIS Solar Telescope, Teide Obs. | 09090 cm | 1996– | Tenerife, Spain | Italy and France | ||
| Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT), Teide Obs. | 07070 cm | 1989– | Tenerife, Spain | Germany | ||
| Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope, ORM | - | 047.547.5 cm | 1985–2000 | La Palma, Spain | Sweden | Replaced by the SST |
| Hida Domeless Solar Telescope (ja) | - | 060 60 cm | 1979– | Takayama, Gifu, Japan | Japan | |
| Udaipur Solar Observatory Full Disk H-alpha Telescope H-alpha Spar Telescope Coudé Telescope |
025 15 cm 25 cm 15 cm |
1976– | Udaipur, India | India | ||
| Big Bear Solar Observatory, BBS Obs. | 06565 cm | 1969–2006 | California, USA | United States | ||
| Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope (ex-VTT), Sacramento Peak | 152.4 152.4 cm (60") | 1969– | New Mexico, USA | United States | ||
| Solar Observatory Tower Meudon | 06060 cm | 1968– | Meudon, France | France | ||
| McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, KPO | 161 161 cm | 1961– | Arizona, USA | United States | Largest aperture solar telescope | |
| ARIES Observatory | - | 01515 cm | 1961– | Nainital, India | India | |
| Locarno Gregory Coude Telescope (GCT) | 045 45 cm | 1959–2002 | Tenerife, Spain (1984–2002) Locarno, Switzerland (1959–1984) |
Germany | Replaced by GREGOR | |
| Solar Tunnel Telescope, Kodaikanal Solar Observatory | 061 61 cm (24 in) | 1958– | Kodaikanal, India | India | ||
| McMath-Hulbert Observatory | - | 06161 cm (24") | 1941–1979 | Michigan, USA | United States | |
| 50-foot tower, McMath-Hulbert Observatory | - | 040 40 cm | 1936–1979 | Michigan, USA | United States | |
| 10.5 inch, McMath-Hulbert Observatory | - | 026.7 26.7 cm (10.5") | 1930–1941 | Michigan, USA | United States | Replaced by the 24 inch |
| Solar Tower Telescope by Zeiss | - | 045 45 cm | 1930–end | Tokyo, Japan | Japan | Einsteinturm twin |
| Einsteinturm | 06060 cm | 1924– | Potsdam, Germany | Germany | ||
| Göttinger Sonnenturm (Solar Tower Telescope, Zeiss 1942) | 2x01515 cm 01111 cm |
1942– | Göttingen, Germany | Germany | 65 cm-Coelostat by Zeiss, multiple light paths in tower: 15 cm (f/24) spectroheliograph and main spectrograph, 15 cm (f/10) and 11 cm (f/15) white light projection facilities, several smaller spectrographs. Owned and operated by Göttingen amateur astronomical society. | |
| 150-foot tower, Mount Wilson Observatory | 035 35 cm (24") | 1912– | California, USA | United States | ||
| Snow Solar Telescope, Mount Wilson Observatory | - | 061 61 cm (24") | 1904– | California, USA | United States | first solar tower telescope |
| Lerebour/Grubb-Parsons, Kodaikanal Solar Observatory | 020 20 cm | 1901– | Kodaikanal, India | India (1947- ) United Kingdom (1901–1950) |
Telescopes for the sun have existed for hundreds of years, this list is not complete and only goes back to 1900.
Read more about this topic: List Of Solar Telescopes
Famous quotes containing the words large and/or solar:
“Always in England if you had the type of brain that was capable of understanding T.S. Eliot’s poetry or Kant’s logic, you could be sure of finding large numbers of people who would hate you violently.”
—D.J. Taylor (b. 1960)
“Our civilization has decided ... that determining the guilt or innocence of men is a thing too important to be trusted to trained men.... When it wants a library catalogued, or the solar system discovered, or any trifle of that kind, it uses up its specialists. But when it wishes anything done which is really serious, it collects twelve of the ordinary men standing round. The same thing was done, if I remember right, by the Founder of Christianity.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)