Leviathan of Parsonstown

Leviathan of Parsonstown

Victorian picture of the "Leviathan of Parsonstown"
Alternative names	Great Rosse
Named after	Leviathan
Location(s)	Birr Castle, Birr, County Offaly, Leinster, Ireland
Coordinates	53°05′48″N 7°55′03″W / 53.0967722°N 7.9175782°W / 53.0967722; -7.9175782
Observing time	60 nights per year
Built	1842–1846 (1842–1846)
First light	15 February 1845
Telescope style	astronomical observatory Newtonian telescope
Diameter	72 inches (183 cm)
Focal length	16 m (52 ft 6 in)
Mounting	altazimuth mount
Website	birrcastle.com/telescope-astronomy/
Related media on Commons
[edit on Wikidata]

Leviathan of Parsonstown, or Rosse six-foot telescope, is a historic reflecting telescope of 72 inches (1.83 m) aperture, which was the largest telescope in the world from 1845 until the construction of the 100-inch (2.5 m) Hooker Telescope in California in 1917. The Rosse six-foot telescope was built by William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse on his estate, Birr Castle, at Parsonstown (now Birr) in Ireland.^[1]