The Big Ear was a radio telescope located on the grounds of the Ohio Wesleyan University's The Perkins Observatory from the 1960s to 1998 when it was disassembled. It was part of The Ohio State University's SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project. The design of Big Ear is known as Kraus-type, after Dr. John D. Kraus (1910-2004), and is also used at the Nançay Radio Telescope. The 64 metre radio telescope at Parkes Observatory, New South Wales, Australia In contrast to an ordinary telescope, which produces visible light images, a radio telescope sees radio waves emitted by radio sources, typically by means of a large parabolic (dish) antenna, or arrays of them. ... Ohio Wesleyan University (also Wesleyan or OWU, pronounced oh-WOO) is a private coeducational liberal arts college located in Delaware, Ohio. ... The Perkins Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Delaware, Ohio. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The Ohio State University is currently the third largest university in the United States and currently ranked by US News and World Report as the best public university in Ohio and the twenty-first best public university in the nation. ... SETI (pronounced , to rhyme with Betty) stands for Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. ... The SETI Institute has received limited telescope time at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. ... The Kraus-type radio telescope design was created by Dr. John D. Kraus (1910-2004). ... -1... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nançay Radio Telescope primary mirror. ...

The Big Ear completed its first sky survey for extraterrestrial radio sources in the early 1970s. On August 15, 1977, The Big Ear recorded its greatest success when an interesting radio signal was received from the portion of the sky that the telescope was aimed at. This event, chronicled in text books and well known in astrological circles, is known as "The WOW!" signal, so named for the notation made by a volunteer at the site on the date of the event. No other such signal was recorded. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... The Wow! signal was a strong narrowband radio signal detected by the astrophysicist Jerry R. Ehman on August 15, 1977 while working on a SETI project at the Big Ear radio telescope of The Ohio State University. ...

The Big Ear was noted in the 1995 Guinness Book of World Records as being the Radio Telescope which had worked on the SETI project for the longest period of time. 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Guinness Book of Records (or in recent editions Guinness World Records, and in previous US editions Guinness Book of World Records) is a book published annually, containing an internationally recognized collection of superlatives: both in terms of human achievement and the extrema of the natural world. ...

The radio telescope was disassembled in 1998 when developers who had purchased the site from Ohio Wesleyan University began construction of an expansion of a golf course next to the site. 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Ohio Wesleyan University (also Wesleyan or OWU, pronounced oh-WOO) is a private coeducational liberal arts college located in Delaware, Ohio. ...

The Big Ear was parodied in bestselling game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas by the presence of a large radio telescope of the same name in the desert region. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the fifth video game in the Grand Theft Auto series. ...

External links

• The Big Ear Memorial Site
• Big Ear Inventor John Kraus Dies