Telescope Makers

For more abour the telescope manufacturers and their telescopes as used in Southern Africa.

Very old telescopes

• Herschel   7-ft
• Herschel 14-ft
• Herschel 20-ft              Gallery
• Lacaille   0.5-inch
• Tachard   12-ft

Telescopes smaller than 50-cm (20-inches)

• Small Telescopes
• Handmade
• ASSA Pretoria             30-cm / 12-inch           Gallery
• Astrographic Refractor 33-cm / 13-inch
• Boyden Celeostat         20-cm / 8-inch
• Clark refractor             33-cm / 13-inch
• Cooke                         20-cm / 8-inch
• Cox-Hargreaves           45-cm / 18-inch
• Dollond                     7.62-cm / 3-inch
• Franklin Adams           25-cm / 10-inch          Gallery
• Franklin-Adams twin
• Gill                             30-cm / 12-inch
• Grubb                           1-cm / 6-inch
• Grubb                         20-cm / 8-inch
• Hamburg Schmidt         36-cm / 14-inch
• Jones                           9-cm / 3. ½ -inch
• Metcalf Triplet               25-cm / 10-inch
• Mertz                           18-cm / 7-inch
• Nishimura                     41-cm / 16-inch
• Reunert                       23-cm / 9-inch
• Rockefeller Twin           40-cm / 16-inch
• Watson                       10-cm / 4-inch

Telescopes between 50-cm and 1-m

• ADH Baker Schmidt     91-cm / 36-inch
• APT                             75-cm / 30-inch
• Bruce                           61-cm / 24-inch
• Flux                             90-cm / 36-inch           Gallery
• Innes                           67-cm / 26.5-inch
• Lamont Hussey           69-cm / 27-inch          Gallery
• McClean (Victoria)       61-cm / 24-inch          Gallery
• Sutherland                   50-cm / 20-inch
• Steavenson                 76-cm / 30-inch
• Yale Parallax Refractor 66-cm / 26-inch

Telescopes 1-m and larger

• Boyden (Rockefeller)     1.5m / 60-inch           Gallery
• Elizabeth                       1-m / 40-inch
• Hartebeesthoek Radio Antenna
• HESS Gamma Ray
• IRSF                           1.4-m / 55-inch
• Potchefstroom GammaRay
• Radcliffe                     1.9-m / 74-inch            Gallery
• SALT

Transit Instruments:

• Airy Transit Instrument
• Bradley Zenith Sector
• Dolland Transit Instrument
• Fallows Mural Circle
• Fallows Transit Instrument
• Galpin Transit Instrument
• Greenwich Mural Circle
• Jones Mural Circle
• Reversible Transit Circle     15-cm / 6-inch        Gallery
• T&S Transit                         8-cm / 3-inch       Gallery

Heliometers

• Dallmeyer Photoheliograph
• Dun  Echt Heliometer       10-cm / 4-inch
• Heliometer                     10-cm / 4-inch
• Lyot Heliograph
• Repsold Heliometer         17-cm / 7-inch

Miscellaneous telescopes

• Baker-Nunn
• Indian Theodolite
• MRM
• Stellar Photo Instrument

NOTE: A change in the designation (name) of telescopes took place in the 1970s with the creation of the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO). A few years prior, South Africa converted to the decimal system.  Previously telescopes used to be referred to by their names e.g. Elizabeth telescope; or by their diameter in inches, e.g. 40 inch telescope.  In documentation from the 1970s onwards the telescopes are referred to by their diameter in the decimal system, e.g. 100-cm telescope. All the above examples refer to the same instrument.

   All the telescopes discussed were commissioned to be built, i.e. they were custom made. Mass produced telescopes will only be mentioned in the appropriate place, but no space will be allocated to them in the section telescopes. (e.g. modern mass-produced Meade and Celestron telescopes.)

Director Historical Section: Chris de Coning - siriusa@absamail.co.za

(c) ASSA 2003-2006 - webmaster hettlage@saao.ac.za