ESO 3.6 M Telescope - Contemporaries On Commissioning

Contemporaries On Commissioning

In the heat of a Cold War, the ESO 3.6 m took its place among giant eyes old and new.

Largest telescopes in 1976:

# Name /
Observatory
Image Aperture M1
Area
Altitude First
Light
Special advocate
1 BTA-6
Special Astrophysical Obs
238 inch
605 cm
26 m2 2070 m
(6791 ft)
1975 Mstislav Keldysh
2 Hale Telescope
Palomar Obs.
200 inch
508 cm
20 m2 1713 m
(5620 ft)
1949 George Ellery Hale
3 Mayall Telescope
Kitt Peak National Obs.
158 inch
401 cm
10 m2 2120 m
(6955 ft)
1973 Nicholas Mayall
4 CTIO 4m/Blanco Telescope
CTIO Obs.
158 inch
401 cm
10 m2 2200 m
7217 feet
1976 Nicholas Mayall
5 Anglo-Australian Telescope
Siding Spring Obs.
153 inch
389 cm
m2 1742 m
(5715 ft)
1974 Prince Charles
6 ESO 3.6 Telescope
ESO La Silla Obs.
140 inch
357 cm
8.8 m2 2400 m
(7874 ft)
1976 Adriaan Blaauw
7 Shane Telescope
Lick Observatory
120 inch
305 cm
m2 1283 m
(4209 ft)
1959 Nicholas Mayall

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