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Birr Castle telescope
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Telescope at Birr Castle
Learn about Lord Rosse's Birr Leviathan telescope and its various important discoveries, the most important being the detailed observations of many nebulae at Birr Castle, Ireland
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Birr Castle telescope

telescope, Birr, Ireland
Also known as: “Leviathan”, Great Telescope
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Telescope at Birr Castle
Telescope at Birr Castle The 72-inch reflecting telescope at Birr Castle, County Offaly, Leinster, Ireland, was the largest in the world at the time of its construction in the 1840s.

The Birr Castle telescope, also known as the \"Leviathan,\" was built by William Parsons, the 3rd earl of Rosse, at his estate in Ireland. Completed in 1845, it was the largest reflecting telescope in the world for 75 years.12

Parsons dedicated five years to developing a suitable alloy for the mirror, ultimately using speculum metal, an alloy of copper and tin. The telescope itself was 54 feet long and featured a 72-inch diameter mirror.1

With this powerful instrument, Parsons observed many nebulae, discovering the spiral structure of numerous objects now recognized as galaxies. His detailed drawings, such as the one of the spiral galaxy M51, were significant contributions to astronomy. The telescope was later reconstructed and can still be seen at Birr Castle.1

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3 Britannica Sources
  1. William Parsons, 3rd earl of Rosse
  2. telescope - Evolution of the optical telescope
  3. Galilean telescope

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