The Hubble telescope has been in the news always due to its spectacular images captured. It has recently found 6 new galaxies and has left astronomers in awe.
It was launched on April 24, 1990. It is located about 340 kilometres above the Earth's surface and orbits around it 15 times per day. Before Hubble, space exploration was a bit slow and grounded but since its initiation, Space exploration has known no bounds.
Hubble was not the first space telescope but one of the largest ones.
Telescope: About
Telescopes are optical instruments that make distant objects appear magnified by using an arrangement of lenses or curved mirrors and lenses, or various devices used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. The word telescope was coined in 1611 by the Greek mathematician Giovanni Demisiani for one of Galileo Galilei's instruments presented at a banquet at the Accademia dei Lincei.
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Types of Telescopes:
Telescopes can be classified by the wavelengths of light they detect:
1. X-ray telescopes (using shorter wavelengths than ultraviolet light)
2. Ultraviolet telescopes (using shorter wavelengths than visible light)
3. Optical telescopes (using visible light)
4. Infrared telescopes (using longer wavelengths than visible light)
5. Submillimetre telescopes (using longer wavelengths than infrared light)
6. Fresnel Imager (an optical lens technology)
7. X-ray optics (optics for certain X-ray wavelengths)
Listed below are the top 10 telescopes based on their size.
Top 10 Biggest Telescopes in the World
The list of the Top 10 Biggest Telescopes in the World along with their location, built date and their aperture size are discussed below:
10. MMT
Location: Arizona, USA
Built-in (Date or Year): 2000
Aperture Size: 256
9. James Webb Space Telescope
Location: Sun–Earth L2 Lagrange point
Built-in (Date or Year): 2016
Aperture Size: 256 in
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8. Gemini North (Gillett) and Gemini South
Location: Hawaii, USA and Coquimbo Region, Chile
Built-in (Date or Year): 1999, 2001
Aperture Size: 323 inches
7. VLT UT1 – Antu, VLT UT2 – Kueyen, VLT UT3 – Melipal, VLT UT4 – Yepun
Location: Antofagasta Region, Chile
Built in (Date or Year): 1998
Aperture Size: 323 inches
6. Subaru, Mauna Kea Observatory
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Location: Hawaii, U.S.A
Built-in (Date or Year): 1999
Aperture Size: 323 inches
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5. SALT, South African Astronomical Observatory
Location: Northern Cape, South Africa
Built-in (Date or Year): 2005
Aperture Size: 362 inches
4. Keck 1 and Keck 2, Mauna Kea Observatory
Location: Hawaii, U.S.A
Built-in (Date or Year): 1993 and 1996 (respectively)
Aperture Size: 394 inches each
3. Hobby–Eberly Telescope (HET)
Location: Texas, USA
Built-in (Year or Date): 1997
Aperture Size: 394 Inches
2. Gran Telescopio Canarias
Location: Canary Islands, Spain
Built-in (Date or Year): 2009
Aperture Size: 409 inches
1. Large Binocular Telescope (LBT)
Location: Arizona, USA
Built-in(Date or Year): 1996–2002
Aperture Size: 469 inches
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Top 10 Biggest Telescopes in the World
| Name | Effective aperture | Mirror type | Nationality / Sponsors | Site | First light |
| Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) | 11.9 m (469 in) (combined)[2] | Multiple Two 8.4 m (331 in) mirrors | USA, Italy, Germany | Mount Graham International Observatory, Arizona, USA | 2004 |
| Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) | 10.4 m (409 in) | Segmented 36 hexagonal segments | Spain, Mexico, USA | Roque de los Muchachos Obs., Canary Islands, Spain | 2006 |
| Hobby–Eberly Telescope (HET) | 10 m (394 in) (effective) | Segmented 91 × 1 m (39 in) hexagonal segments forming an 11 m × 9.8 m mirror | USA, Germany | McDonald Observatory, Texas, USA | 1997 Aperture increased 2015 |
| Keck 1 and Keck 2 | 10 m (394 in) | Segmented 36 hexagonal segments | USA | Mauna Kea Observatories, Hawaii, USA | 1993 |
| Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) | 9.2 m (362 in) (effective)[4] | Segmented 91 × 1 m (39 in) hexagonal segments forming an 11 m × 9.8 m mirror | South Africa, USA, UK, Germany, Poland, New Zealand | South African Astronomical Obs., Northern Cape, South Africa | 2005 |
| Subaru (JNLT) | 8.2 m (323 in) | Single | Japan | Mauna Kea Observatories, Hawaii, USA | 1999 |
| VLT UT1 – Antu, VLT UT2 – Kueyen, VLT UT3 – Melipal, VLT UT4 – Yepun | 8.2 m (323 in) | Single | ESO Countries, Chile | Paranal Observatory, Antofagasta Region, Chile | 1998 |
| Gemini North (Gillett), Gemini South | 8.1 m (319 in) | Single | USA, UK, Canada, Chile, Australia, Argentina, Brazil | Mauna Kea Observatories, Hawaii, USA | 1999 |
| James Webb Space Telescope | 6.5 m(256 in) | Segmented 18 hexagonal segments | NASA, ESA, CSA | Halo orbit around the Earth-Sun L2 Point | 2022 |
| MMT (current optics) | 6.5 m (256 in) | Single | USA | F. L. Whipple Obs., Arizona, USA | 2000 |
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