Why are the largest modern optical telescopes reflectors rather than refractors?

Modern optical telescopes are primarily reflectors rather than refractors due to several significant engineering and physical limitations associated with large refracting telescopes.

Refractors are effectively limited to apertures of about 100 cm (40 inches) because large glass lenses are difficult to manufacture and support. Since a lens can only be supported around its perimeter, a large objective lens will distort under its own weight. Furthermore, light is lost due to absorption as it passes through the thick glass of a large lens. Refractors are also prone to chromatic aberration, where different colors of light fail to focus at the same point, and they require very long, expensive telescope tubes and housing domes.123

In contrast, reflecting telescopes offer several advantages:
* Mechanical Support: Mirrors can be supported from the back, allowing for much larger diameters, including modern designs using segmented components.21
* Optical Quality: Reflectors are not subject to chromatic aberration because reflected light does not disperse by wavelength.21
* Compactness: Reflectors are more compact, which reduces the cost of the telescope tube and the dome required to house it.21