List of largest infrared telescopes

List of largest infrared telescopes, by diameter of entrance aperture, oriented towards large observatories dedicated to infrared astronomy.

Overall

Name Image Effective
aperture
m (in) 		Wavelength
Coverage 		Site Year Refs
VISTA 4.1 m (161″) 0.85 – 2.3 μm Paranal Obs., Chile 2008 [1]
UKIRT 3.8 m (150″) Mauna Kea Obs., Hawaii 1978
Herschel Obs. 3.5 m (138″) 60-672 μm Space, Earth L2 2009 [2]
IRTF 3 m (118″) Mauna Kea, Hawaii 1979 [3]
SOFIA 2.5 m (98.4 in) 747SP; Stratosphere 2010 [4][5]
WIRO 2.3 m (90.6 in) Jelm mountain, 9656 ft. (2943m) 1977 [6]

Space telescopes only

Name Effective
aperture
cm (in) 		Wavelength
Coverage 		Year Refs
Herschel Obs. 350 cm (138″) 60-672 μm 2009 [2]
Hubble WFC3 240 cm 0.2-1.7 μm 2009
Spitzer 85 cm 3-180 μm 2003 [4]
Akari 68.5 cm 2-200 μm 2006 [4]
ISO 60 cm 2.5-240 μm 1996 [4]
IRAS 57 cm 5-100 μm 1983 [4]
SWAS 44–70 cm 540 - 610 μm 1998
WISE 40 cm 3-25 μm 2010 [4]
MSX 33 cm 4.3-21 μm 1996 [7]
Human Eye* ~1 cm 0.39-0.75 μm -

*For comparison

See also

References

  1. ↑ Emerson, J.P., Sutherland, W.J., McPherson, A.M., Craig, S.C., Dalton, G.B., Ward, A.K. (2005). The Visible & Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy. The Messenger
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Amos, Jonathan (14 June 2009). "ESA launches Herschel and Planck space telescopes". BBC. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  3. ↑ IRTF homepage
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 JPL: Herschel Space Observatory: Related Missions
  5. ↑ Krabbe, Alfred (March 2007). "SOFIA telescope". Proceedings of SPIE: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation. Munich, Germany: SPIE — The International Society for Optical Engineering. pp. 276–281. arXiv:astro-ph/0004253.
  6. ↑ University of Wyoming 2.3-meter Telescope (WIRO)
  7. ↑ Wikipedia - Midcourse Space Experiment - November 29, 2012