The Big Ear is the creation of microwave genius and professor John Kraus. It was built by the students of the Ohio State University (OSU) and used to create the first complete radio map of the sky. The radio observatory was then used for the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program. More information on this can be found at the History of the Ohio State Big Ear Radiotelescope. Unfortunately, the Big Ear doesn't exist anymore. It's gone the way of modern civilization and has been destroyed to be replaced by a housing development.
I was a volunteer technician there for a year and a half when I was an electrical engineering student at OSU. My work at the Big Ear changed my life forever. I was originally planning on a career designing audio equipment, but my exposure to the sky and the treasures it holds changed my direction. I now design radios that go in spacecraft and deep space probes.
I scanned the image with a Nikon Coolscan LS-10 and used Adobe Photoshop for color correction and very mild sharpening. Photograph by Rick Scott.
Updated: 21 July 2002