Potsdam Great Refractor

The "Große Refraktor" of 1899, a double telescope with a 80cm (31.5") and 50 cm (19.5") lenses

Potsdam Great Refractor (Große Refraktor) is an historic astronomical telescope in an observatory in Potsdam, Germany.[1]

Completed in 1899, it is a double telescope for astronomy, a great refractor with two objectives of different size on the same equatorial mount.[1] One lens in 80 cm in aperture and the other is 50 cm.[1] The 80 cm diameter lens was designed for astrophotography, and the 50 cm diameter lens for visual work.[2]

The telescope was made by Repsold,.[3][4] The objective lens glass blanks were made in Jena by Schott, and the lenses figured by Steinheil of Munich.[2][4]

  1. ^ a b c Hughes, Stefan (2012). Catchers of the Light: The Forgotten Lives of the Men and Women Who First Photographed the Heavens. ArtDeCiel Publishing. ISBN 9781620509616.
  2. ^ a b Regents, Smithsonian Institution Board of (1905). Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. The Institution.
  3. ^ Chinnici, Ileana (2017-03-30). Merz Telescopes: A global heritage worth preserving. Springer. ISBN 9783319414867.
  4. ^ a b Chinnici, Ileana (2017-03-30). Merz Telescopes: A global heritage worth preserving. Springer. ISBN 9783319414867.