Blog Post

World's Largest Amateur Telescope, world record in Stansbury Park, Utah

May 7, 2024

Stansbury Park, Utah, United States--The Mike Clements 1.8 Meter (70 inch) telescope has a new home in Utah at the Stansbury Park Observatory Complex (SPOC) the Salt Lake Astronomical Society’s Observatory; using a 70-inch wide large military mirror from a spy satellite that he bought by chance online, Clements built the World's Largest Amateur Telescope, according to the WORLD RECORD ACADEMY.

"Likewise, Mike’s next logical step was to build an even larger scope. Years had gone by, but fate fell upon him and he acquired a military surplus Mirror already polished and figured, it just needed coating. A 70inch mirror! It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, whose only desire is to share his inspiration of the celestial wonders above us," the Cloudy Nights says.

"Well needless to say I was very intensely interested in seeing this giant scope everybody has been talking about in person. After a nice dinner with Mike, we went to the observatory where the scope was stored at, the Stansbury Park Observatory Complex (SPOC).

"To see this structure for the first time, nothing prepares your eyes at the magnitude of this work of art! It’s like seeing many pictures of the Grand Canyon and then seeing it for the first time in person. Wow Wow! You are truly left speechless, like taking a ride on a super high roller coaster run! Just the altitude bearings are a vision to behold - 13 feet in diameter!"

"The main mirror is a spectacular glass disk 70 inches across, originally made for an American spy satellite. Weighing 900 pounds, it’s just one component of the gigantic apparatus. With its crane-like structure aimed horizontally, the telescope is 35 feet long, 11½ feet wide and 16 feet high," the Deseret News says.

"A new building to house this magnificent magnifier is under construction. When finished, it will be a rectangular module 45 feet long and 25 feet wide, with walls of concrete and steel.

"The roof’s peak will be 23 feet above the concrete floor. A "garage door" 14 feet wide and 16 feet high will open at the front. For public and private star parties, Clements’ telescope will be rolled out of the building and onto a circular concrete pad."

"Salt Lake City native Mike Clements has made his hobby of better understanding the stars into a community gift that can provide one of the best and most approachable ways in the world to get an up-close view of the stars," the ABC4 Utah says.

"Using a military-grade 70-inch wide mirror that was intended for use on a spy satellite, Clements has built what he claims to be the largest amateur-made, publicly available optical telescope on earth.

"A longtime enthusiast with decades of building his own telescopes in varying shapes and sizes, Clements’ friends reached out to him with an interesting offer. They had located a declassified spy satellite mirror, nearly two meters in diameter, which was up for sale. Clements, a truck driver by trade, jumped at the opportunity."

"The World’s Largest Amateur Telescope, the Mike Clements 1.8 Meter (70 inch) telescope, has a new home in Utah at the Stansbury Park Observatory Complex (SPOC) the Salt Lake Astronomical Society’s Observatory," the CosmoQuest.com says.

"Last November 2016 the last of the private funding was obtained from Private contributors and Salt Lake Astronomical Society (SLAS) members, thereby allowing SLAS to obtain a matching grant from Tooele County.

"Built by Utah stargazer Mike Clements, the ‘scope utilizes a mirror originally designed for a spy satellite. A small blemish prompted the government to sell it, and Clements was the buyer. He worked for years building the massive framework that holds the telescope’s other elements and allows it to steer across the heavens."

"This would be truck driver and space enthusiast Michael Clements, a native of Salt Lake City. Using a 70-inch wide large military mirror from a spy satellite that he bought by chance online, Clements built what he says is the largest amateur optical telescope on Earth," the Orbital Today says.

"On learning of what Clements had in his garage, the Salt Lake City Astronomical Society approached him with a proposal to make the telescope open to the public.

"Now the large structure sits in a place of honour at a baseball field in Tooele County, known as the Stansbury Park Observatory Complex. Each week, the large telescope is removed from the building and brought to the Society’s Star Party."

"A Utah man has created what may be the largest amateur telescope on record -- a device that enables users to view constellations that previously had only been visible through the Hubble Space Telescope," the Fox News says.

"Mike Clements, of Herriman, Utah, told Fox affiliate KSTU-TV that he built the telescope despite a lack of formal training. The telescope is approximately 35 feet tall -- roughly the size of a school bus -- and weighs about 3,000 pounds, according to the station.

"Clements said the project got under way after he purchased a 70-inch mirror that was at one time destined to be part of a Cold War-era spy satellite. "I have no credentials," Clements told the station. "I’m just a guy. I’m just an average guy who had a passion."

"On the surface, Mike Clements is your typical professional truck driver for Central Refrigeration. But if you look closer, you will discover that Clements has a passion for building telescopes," the Utah Public Radio says.

"Clements said he became interested in telescopes when he was a kid. He would take apart telescopes and play with the pieces. Clements said this sparked an obsession for him. He began by building small telescopes and worked his way up to building the largest amateur telescope on record. Overall, it stands 35 feet tall.

"Clements said he was not willing to spend too much money on the project. The giant 70-inch mirror was once a piece of a spy satellite and it came from an auction. The rest of the parts to the telescope came from places like Home Depot. The mirror to the telescope weighs approximately 900 pounds."

"The long-haul trucker from West Jordan, Utah, has single-handedly built a 70-inch telescope — the largest one on record to be crafted by an amateur astronomer, enabling users to see constellations previously visible only through the $2.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope," the Daily Mail says.

"While the primary mirror is 70 inches, the black metal structure itself stands about 35 feet tall, supporting a secondary mirror that is 29 inches.

"Clements bought the 900-pound mirror — which was originally destined to go into space as part of a spy satellite until the edge of it was chipped during its manufacture — after it was auctioned off."