The Worlds Biggest Telescopes Through History - From Galileo to Gran Telescopio Canarias

400 years ago the first telescopes were used to study the skies, Galileo's largest telescope was believed to have an aperture of 33mm. From there the largest telescopes in the world steadily grew until modern large telescopes have mirrors over 10meters in diameter. We can follow the evolution of the astronomical telescope by looking at the largest telescopes in the world over the centuries.

I'm only covering optical telescopes, there are understandably larger aperture radio telescopes, but that's a whole separate story.

This wikipedia page included all the the telescopes I mention listed by date, but I skip many of the early ones as the telescopes weren't major installations until Herschel's 40 foot telescope.

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[marcogenovesi]

8:30 "he eventually died and apparently none of his contemporaries have learned any skills from him"

As a person working in IT support, this resonates with me

[HhT]

Arsenical bronze is actually a thing and the resulting alloy is both stronger and has better casting behaviour than regular bronze and thus can make much more exact mirrors.

It's also quite old - it was pretty common in Ancient Greece because it made harder and sharper weapons than normal bronze, but fell out of favour because it tended to kill the blacksmiths.

[cubfan]

Really nice video about the history of the telescope. Good job Scott.

[MrAluntus]

Scott, I love your sharing of knowledge on these subjects. It's a great reminder of how long it has taken us to get to this point in time. Thank you!

[PMakerYT]

"very large telescope"
"extremely large telescope"
"overwhelmingly large telescope (cancelled)"
I just love it when science names stuff :D

[YourMCAdmin]

I'm giggling! I love when you deliver a joke with such a dry, scientific-sounding explanation.

[PlanetEarth]

As an old child who has always admired the heavens, earned his astronomy merit badge, visited a few major telescopes 🔭 and memorized the constellations, I think this is the best video I've seen in a long time. It covers history, my favorite subject. Then my second favorite, Astronomy. Unlike my other tech channels, it doesn't repeat info redundantly, over and over, again and again. It's concise.

Thank you Scott.

[LadyAnuB]

The joys of wide angle Mk1 eyeball viewing are being taken away by modern night lighting

[geoffbarton]

Been an amateur astronomer for many years although mostly inactive as I grow old. I built a 13" Newtonian with a modified Dobson mount. I ground the mirror myself and built most of the rest from materials anyone can get at your local hardware store. It has been a wonderful hobby where I have spent many a satisfying night gazing at distant objects. Thank you Scott for sharing this great video.

[meme]

I remember looking at Saturn through my niece's £80 refracting telescope. Although not as clear a picture as those I've seen on TV and the internet, it was amazing to know that light from the Sun was bouncing back from Saturn and its rings, passing through Earth's atmosphere into the telescope, and entering my eye directly.

[jeremytheimer]

Quite amazing how far human curiosity has taken us. From the exponentially fast increase in mirror size to adaptive optics, astronomy really is the best representation of the spirit of curiosity.

[Mochu_s_Junkyard]

I would love a video about the evolution of that mounts till getting to actual motorized ones, and the maths behind it :)

As someone that is trying to build a telescope I find this a lot more complex than the optics

[ThisFinalHandle]

I sometimes dilate my aperture and yell at the moon.

[Visuwyg]

15:24 what's the story of the "Overwhelmingly large telescope"? :D Did its cost overwhelm them?

[alexsiemers]

Still waiting for the release of the MK2 eyeball, hopefully they at least make it a buy-one-get-one-free.

[RCAvhstape]

15:14 "Overwhelmingly Large Telescope (canceled)" cool name, too bad it didn't get built.

[donlourie]

Your last comment is so amazing! Scott can actually wear me out with technical and historical details. But the foundation to his essays gives focus to the human part. Well done.

[matthewbakker]

I don't know... I'm kind of attached to my Mk1's...

[AndrzejSkrobski]

Hi Scott, I live in Ireland and totally agree with you on the weather here.
I purchased my first Newtonian last year and on average there is maybe 1 night a month with really good conditions. This makes me appreciate each one of them even more 😅

[andreask.]

William Parsons? Leviathan? I thought he called his telescope the ... Parsons Project?!?