Home›Ground-Based Optical Observatories›All Ground-Based Optical ObservatoriesBrowse ByAll Ground-Based Optical ObservatoriesDome with an Open ShutterReference and ClassificationDevelopingGround-based facilities that observe the sky in visible and near-infrared light from mountain sites chosen for altitude, dry air and dark skies: the Mauna Kea Observatories and W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories in California, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, also in Chile. Belongs here: an Earth-based optical or near-infrared facility. Does not belong here: an Earth-based radio or millimeter facility, grouped under Ground-Based Radio and Millimeter Observatories, or a facility in space, grouped under Space-Based Observatories.FactsAll Ground-Based Optical ObservatoriesSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsComparisonField Origin EraWell-attested1608 1All Ground-Based Optical ObservatoriesFilter Results83 entriesPlatformAllHistoric Pre-Telescopic Observatories (8)Optical Observatories of Africa and Oceania (10)Optical Observatories of Asia and the Middle East (10)Optical Observatories of Europe (28)Optical Observatories of the Americas (26)OperatorAllAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy (4)Astrophysical Research Consortium (1)Australian Astronomical Observatory (1)Australian National University (2)Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (1)California Association for Research in Astronomy (1)California Institute of Technology (1)Carnegie Institution for Science (1)Chinese Academy of Sciences (1)Czech Academy of Sciences (1)Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (1)European Southern Observatory (2)Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1)Indian Institute of Astrophysics (2)Institut Teknologi Bandung (1)Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (1)Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (1)Large Binocular Telescope Corporation (1)Leiden University (1)Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (1)Moscow State University (1)National Academy of Sciences of Armenia (1)National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (1)National Institute for Astrophysics (3)National Research Council (Canada) (1)National Research Foundation of South Africa (1)National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (1)National Science Foundation (2)New Jersey Institute of Technology (1)New Mexico State University (1)NOIRLab (2)Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur (1)Osmania University (1)Paris Sciences et Lettres University (1)Physical Research Laboratory (1)Russian Academy of Sciences (2)SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (1)South African Astronomical Observatory (1)Tel Aviv University (1)University of California (1)University of Chicago (1)University of Copenhagen (1)University of Hamburg (1)University of Texas at Austin (1)University of the Free State (1)University of Toronto (1)University of Vienna (1)Operational Start YearAll906 (1)1259 (1)1276 (1)1442 (1)1580 (1)1633 (1)1667 (1)1675 (1)1700 (1)1734 (1)1754 (1)1764 (1)1785 (1)1789 (1)1812 (1)1825 (1)1826 (1)1827 (1)1839 (1)1842 (1)1861 (1)1869 (1)1871 (2)1873 (1)1879 (1)1883 (1)1888 (1)1889 (1)1894 (1)1897 (1)1898 (1)1900 (1)1901 (1)1904 (1)1908 (1)1918 (1)1923 (1)1931 (1)1932 (1)1934 (1)1935 (1)1937 (1)1939 (1)1945 (1)1946 (1)1949 (1)1954 (1)1958 (1)1964 (2)1965 (2)1966 (1)1969 (2)1970 (1)1971 (1)1972 (1)1974 (1)1975 (1)1976 (1)1984 (1)1985 (1)1986 (1)1990 (1)1992 (1)1994 (1)1996 (1)1998 (1)1999 (1)2000 (1)2005 (2)2009 (1)2019 (1)2025 (1)Observing BandAllInfrared (13)Optical / Visible (65)Radio (10)X-ray (1)LocationAllArgentina (2)Armenia (1)Australia (3)Australia (1)Austria (1)Belgium (1)Brazil (1)Canada (2)Chile (6)China (3)Czechia (1)Denmark (1)Egypt (1)France (4)Georgia (1)Germany (3)Greece (1)Hungary (1)India (6)Indonesia (1)Iran (1)Ireland (1)Israel (1)Italy (3)Japan (1)Mexico (1)Morocco (1)Netherlands (1)Russia (3)South Africa (3)Spain (3)Sweden (1)Turkey (1)Ukraine (1)United Kingdom (2)United States (16)Uzbekistan (1)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 83Abastumani Astrophysical ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesAnglo-Australian TelescopeGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesApache Point ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesArcetri ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesArgentine National ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesArmagh ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesAryabhatta Research Institute of Observational SciencesGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesBeijing Ancient ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesBerlin ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesBig Bear Solar ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesBohyunsan Optical Astronomy ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesBosscha ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesBoyden ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesBrera Astronomical ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesByurakan ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesCalar Alto ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesCapodimonte Astronomical ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesCerro Tololo Inter-American ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesCrimean Astrophysical ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesDaniel K. Inouye Solar TelescopeGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesDavid Dunlap ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesDominion Astrophysical ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesDunsink ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesEl Caracol, Chichen ItzaGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesFlorence and George Wise ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesGaocheng Astronomical ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesGemini ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesGran Telescopio CanariasGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesHamburg ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesHaute-Provence ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesIstanbul Observatory of Taqi al-DinGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesJantar Mantar, JaipurGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesKitt Peak National ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesKodaikanal Solar ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesKonkoly ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesKottamia Astronomical ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesLa Plata Astronomical ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesLa Silla ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesLarge Binocular TelescopeGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesLas Campanas ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesLearmonth Solar ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesLeibniz Institute for Astrophysics PotsdamGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesLeiden ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesLick ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesLowell ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesMaragheh ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesMauna Kea ObservatoriesGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesMcDonald ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesMount Stromlo ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesMount Wilson ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesNational Astronomical Observatory of JapanGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesNational Observatory of AthensGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesNational Solar ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesNice ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesNizamia ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesObservatório NacionalGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesOndrejov ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesØstervold ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesOukaimeden ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesPalomar ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesParis ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesPerth ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesPic du Midi ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesPulkovo ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesPurple Mountain ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesRoque de los Muchachos ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesRoyal Greenwich ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesRoyal Observatory of BelgiumGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesSiding Spring ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesSouth African Astronomical ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesSouthern African Large TelescopeGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesSpecial Astrophysical ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesSternberg Astronomical InstituteGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesSubaru TelescopeGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesUdaipur Solar ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesUlugh Beg ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesUraniborgGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesVainu Bappu ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesVera C. Rubin ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesVery Large TelescopeGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesVienna ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesW. M. Keck ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesYerkes ObservatoryGround-Based Optical ObservatoriesSources1. Wikipedia: History of the telescopetier 2Wikimedia FoundationHistory of the telescope, lead sectionQuote, History of the telescope, lead sectionThe history of the telescope can be traced to before the invention of the earliest known telescope, which appeared in 1608 in the Netherlands, when a patent was submitted by Hans Lippershey, an eyeglass maker.View the SourceComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.