Vera (Cooper) Rubin is an astronomer who has done pioneering work on galaxy rotation rates. Her discovery of what is known as "flat rotation curves" is the most direct and robust evidence of dark matter.
Professional astronomers use large telescopes all over the world, and even
in space. Most of the largest ground-based reflecting telescopes are concentrated
in Hawaii, Chile, and the Canary Islands that take advantage of the dark
skies and superior seeing conditions created by high elevations, dry and
steady airflow, and great distances from city lights. You will also find
large relfecting telescopes in the United States (California, Arizona and
Texas among other states), South Africa, Russia, Australia, China and other
countries. Check out this list of large reflecting telescopes with primary
mirrors that range in size from 15 to 2.2 meters in diameter for one that
might be located near you, or plan your next vacation to visit one.
To view the details of any telescope in this list, please click
on the name of the telescope. You can also sort the telescopes, by clicking
on the table headings.
