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The most important telescopes in history?


Marvin Jenkins

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I'm going to go for:

1.  Mt Hooker for making the universe so much larger.

2.  Hubble for bringing space to the masses and relentless output.

3.  John Dobson's first scope for bringing astronomy to the masses.

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3 minutes ago, chubster1302 said:

The one I'm "hopefully" about to buy for myself. Does that count 🤔 

Might not win too many votes from the general public, but if the hobby bites you then yes it will be, certainly the most important in the history of your wallet.

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I have decided to call the voting to end. Please do not vote after this message as you may still be charged.

In third place The Hubble Space Telescope.

In second place Herschel 20

In first place by just one vote The 100” Hooker.

Just in case anyone wants to know The Dobsonian was the best of the rest and with all the telescopes on Hawaii, only one gained one vote.

Thanks everyone for voting.

Marv

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Okay Marvin, here are my choices. 

Galileo’s gift: The telescope that Galileo gave to Duke Cosimo II offered multiple benefits to the seminal modern astronomer that influenced all that followed.   That refined version of his initial efforts demonstrated Galileo’s development as a telescope designer and builder and proved the utility of this new tool for scientific research.  Although primitive by our current standards, this singular instrument revealed the heavens to Galileo and his audience, which was and is considerable, because of the significance of his discoveries and his gift for self promotion

The Great Dorpat Refractor: I could stress the significance of placing a massive high-quality telescope at the disposal of a talented astronomer but that tends to happen routinely in this field.  Despite the stellar credentials of Joseph von Fraunhofer and F. G. Wilhelm Struve and the outstanding optics of Fraunhofer’s telescope, optical quality and specific discoveries might not qualify this telescope for the list either.  

No, in this case, “It’s All About That” Base!  I won’t apologize to  Meghan Trainor for the pun since she beat Sir Mix-a-lot only because his rhymes wouldn’t quite fit in this family friendly forum. 

The Hooker 100”: The 100” reflector at the historic Mt Wilson Observatory made my list because of the massive leaps in knowledge that it enabled and because I think that George Ellery Hale needs to be mentioned in any discussion about important telescopes.   A cynical judge might think that this is a way of squeezing the 40” refractor at Williams Bay, the 60” on Mt. Wilson, and the 200” on Palomar Mountain into consideration, but enabling us to understand and discover the size and expansion of the universe ought to be enough to earn that chunk of plate glass a place on anyone’s list. 

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3 hours ago, Celerondon said:

Okay Marvin, here are my choices. 

Galileo’s gift: The telescope that Galileo gave to Duke Cosimo II offered multiple benefits to the seminal modern astronomer that influenced all that followed.   That refined version of his initial efforts demonstrated Galileo’s development as a telescope designer and builder and proved the utility of this new tool for scientific research.  Although primitive by our current standards, this singular instrument revealed the heavens to Galileo and his audience, which was and is considerable, because of the significance of his discoveries and his gift for self promotion

The Great Dorpat Refractor: I could stress the significance of placing a massive high-quality telescope at the disposal of a talented astronomer but that tends to happen routinely in this field.  Despite the stellar credentials of Joseph von Fraunhofer and F. G. Wilhelm Struve and the outstanding optics of Fraunhofer’s telescope, optical quality and specific discoveries might not qualify this telescope for the list either.  

No, in this case, “It’s All About That” Base!  I won’t apologize to  Meghan Trainor for the pun since she beat Sir Mix-a-lot only because his rhymes wouldn’t quite fit in this family friendly forum. 

The Hooker 100”: The 100” reflector at the historic Mt Wilson Observatory made my list because of the massive leaps in knowledge that it enabled and because I think that George Ellery Hale needs to be mentioned in any discussion about important telescopes.   A cynical judge might think that this is a way of squeezing the 40” refractor at Williams Bay, the 60” on Mt. Wilson, and the 200” on Palomar Mountain into consideration, but enabling us to understand and discover the size and expansion of the universe ought to be enough to earn that chunk of plate glass a place on anyone’s list. 

Sorry #Celerondon but the voting has closed. Your provider may still charge you for you call.

The voting requirements were that Gals frac and JWST were excluded, I assumed they would distort any voting as first the most obvious and the last being the most recent so also the most obvious.

You mention a cynical judge in your carefully worded but sadly late reply and I have to agree as judge and judicator of this vote that I am cynical and do not agree with results at all.

I have decided to scrap the vote! I now declare the winners.

1/ Telrad

2/ Red dot finder

3/ Tasco small starter scope.

Just so you know there is no corruption or voter fraud on my part, my suggestion did not win.

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10 minutes ago, niallk said:

The Telrad is a most worthy winner! 😂

I don’t agree with that at all so I moving the Dobsonian that wasn’t even in the last top three to the only spot.

No1 John Dobson, you absolute ledge. I would have loved to have met you. Doing what you did and not looking to make a buck! How the world should have learned your lessons.

Some have of course but very much in the minority. I for one started this vote with the idea of finding the most historic scope but just like all those programs on tv I am buying a Bugatti and moving to LA. The light pollution is awful though.

M

notice I have cut my name down to a letter like Prince. The LA life will do that to an astronomer.

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