List of Major Telescopes in the World

List of Major Telescopes in the World

S. No.	Telescope / Commissioning Year	Location / Type	Objective / Role
1	James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) / 2021	Space telescope; Sun-Earth L2 region	Studies the earliest galaxies, star formation, exoplanet atmospheres and the evolution of the Universe.
2	Hubble Space Telescope / 1990	Space telescope; Earth orbit	Observes galaxies, nebulae, stars, planets and the expansion of the Universe across ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared wavelengths.
3	Chandra X-ray Observatory / 1999	Space telescope; highly elliptical Earth orbit	Studies black holes, neutron stars, supernova remnants and hot gas using X-rays.
4	Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope / 2008	Space telescope; Earth orbit	Studies gamma-ray bursts, pulsars, active galaxies and other high-energy cosmic phenomena.
5	Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) / 2018	Space telescope; Earth orbit	Searches for planets orbiting nearby stars using the transit method.
6	Keck Observatory / 1993	Hawaii, USA; optical and infrared	Uses two 10-metre telescopes to study distant galaxies, black holes, stars and exoplanets.
7	Very Large Telescope (VLT) / 1998	Paranal, Chile; optical and infrared	Uses four 8.2-metre unit telescopes for high-resolution astronomy, exoplanet research and observations of distant galaxies.
8	Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) / 2009	La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain; optical and infrared	A 10.4-metre telescope used to investigate faint galaxies, stars, black holes and distant astronomical objects.
9	Subaru Telescope / 1999	Mauna Kea, Hawaii, USA; optical and infrared	A wide-field 8.2-metre telescope used for galaxy surveys, cosmology and exoplanet studies.
10	Gemini Observatory / 2000–2002	Hawaii, USA, and Chile; optical and infrared	Two 8.1-metre telescopes provide observations of both northern and southern skies.
11	Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) / 2011–2013	Atacama Desert, Chile; radio and millimetre-wave array	Studies cold molecular gas, star formation, protoplanetary discs and the chemistry of the Universe.
12	Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) / 2016–2020	Guizhou, China; radio telescope	Studies pulsars, fast radio bursts, neutral hydrogen and other radio astronomical phenomena.
13	Very Large Array (VLA) / 1980	New Mexico, USA; radio interferometer	Observes radio emissions from galaxies, stars, supernova remnants and black holes.
14	Green Bank Telescope (GBT) / 2000	West Virginia, USA; radio telescope	A 100-metre steerable radio telescope used to study pulsars, gas clouds and interstellar molecules.
15	Effelsberg Radio Telescope / 1972	Germany; radio telescope	A 100-metre dish used for pulsar observations, magnetic-field studies and radio surveys of galaxies.
16	MeerKAT / 2018	South Africa; radio interferometer	Uses an array of 64 dishes to study galaxies, pulsars, cosmic magnetism and radio sources.
17	Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) / 1990s	Pune region, India; radio interferometer	Studies the early Universe, radio galaxies, pulsars and cosmic hydrogen at metre wavelengths.
18	SALT — Southern African Large Telescope / 2005	South Africa; optical telescope	A 10-metre-class telescope primarily used for spectroscopy of stars, galaxies and other celestial objects.
19	Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) / 2005–2008	Arizona, USA; optical and infrared	Combines two 8.4-metre mirrors for studies of exoplanets, galaxies and faint astronomical targets.
20	Vera C. Rubin Observatory / first-light milestones in 2025	Chile; wide-field optical survey telescope	Conducts a large-scale survey of the changing night sky, studying dark matter, dark energy, asteroids and transient events.
21	Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope / 2022	Hawaii, USA; solar telescope	A 4-metre solar telescope designed to study the Sun's magnetic fields, solar atmosphere and the origins of solar activity.
22	Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) / 2001	Hanle, Ladakh, India; optical and infrared	Supports observations of stars, galaxies, variable objects and other astronomical phenomena at a high-altitude site.
23	Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT) / 2016	Uttarakhand, India; optical telescope	A 3.6-metre telescope used to study stars, galaxies, supernovae and other transient astronomical events.
24	Mount Abu Infrared Observatory / 1990s	Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India; optical and infrared	Supports infrared astronomy, including observations of stars, star-forming regions and planetary systems.
25	Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) / under construction	Cerro Armazones, Chile; optical and infrared	A planned 39-metre ground-based telescope designed to study exoplanets, the first galaxies and fundamental questions in astrophysics.
26	Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) / planned	Proposed northern-hemisphere site; optical and infrared	A planned 30-metre telescope intended for high-resolution observations of exoplanets, stars and distant galaxies.
27	Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) / under construction	Las Campanas, Chile; optical and infrared	A planned extremely large telescope for studying exoplanets, galaxy formation and the evolution of the Universe.
28	Square Kilometre Array (SKA) / under construction	Australia and South Africa; radio arrays	A next-generation radio astronomy facility designed to investigate cosmic evolution, pulsars, magnetic fields and fundamental physics.

Notes:

This is a selected list of major scientific telescopes, not an exhaustive catalogue of every observatory in the world.
Optical telescopes observe visible light; infrared telescopes study infrared radiation; radio telescopes detect radio waves; X-ray and gamma-ray telescopes investigate high-energy phenomena.
Space telescopes avoid atmospheric distortion and can observe wavelengths blocked by Earth's atmosphere.
Commissioning dates indicate approximate milestones. Some facilities were developed and brought into scientific operation over several years.
The ELT, GMT, TMT and SKA are next-generation projects; their construction and operational schedules should be checked against their official project pages.

Official sources:

List of Major Telescopes in the World

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