List of telescopes of Australia this is split between telescopes located in Australia, and telescopes sponsored by Australia such as a space telescope or foreign installation. Australia can access the Southern skies, which was a popular trend in the 20th century (many telescope had been built for the northern hemisphere). The third largest optical telescope in the world in 1974 was Anglo-Australian Telescope, one of the really large telescopes of that time and built in Australia. There are several radio telescopes also, and Sydney Observatory has taken observations for over a century.