Description: This image shows the Perkins Observatory near Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. Near the observatory is the famous "Big Ear" radio telescope, which had a collecting area of 340 by 70 feet (104 by 21 meters). The Ohio Sky Survey recorded here between 1965 and 1972 was the most accurate, reliable, and complete mapping of cosmic radio signals (the "radio sky") for many years. This observatory conducted a 24-year continuous search for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence, during which the famous "Wow!" signal was received in 1977. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06504
Subjects: Astronomical observatories; Astronomy; Telescopes; Interstellar communication; Science and Technology
Places: Delaware (Ohio); Delaware County (Ohio)
 

Description: The photograph shows the Elgar Weaver Observatory on the campus of Wittenberg College (now Wittenberg University). A caption on the back reads: "Clark Co., Springfield, O. April 28, 1937. ELGAR WEAVER OBSERVATORY, northermost building on W. side of Wittenberg College campus." Built in 1931, the Weaver Observatory houses Wittenberg's historic 10-inch refracting telescope as well as modern astronomical instrumentation. It was completely refurbished in 2003. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F05_035_001
Subjects: College buildings; Astronomical observatories; Wittenberg College; Wittenberg University
Places: Springfield (Ohio); Clark County (Ohio)
 

Description: This engraved portrait shows teacher, attorney, military leader and noted astronomer Ormsby Mitchel in formal attire. Mitchel was born on August 28, 1809 or 1810, in Union County, Kentucky, and grew up in Lebanon, Ohio. He was influential in establishing an observatory for Cincinnati College in the 1850s. During the early part of the Civil War, he commanded the Department of the Ohio and rose to the rank of major general. On October 20, 1862, he died of yellow fever in South Carolina, and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. This original image was used as an illustration in Henry Howe's "Historical Collections of Ohio," published in 1907. The image includes a signature near the lower right-hand corner which reads "Moss Eng. Co., NY." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04268
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Cultural Ohio--Education; Astronomical observatories; Military officers; Ohio--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Pictorial works
Places: Lebanon (Ohio); Warren County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reverse reads: "Campus, Denison University; Swasey Chapel and Swasey Observatory in background." This is a photograph depicting a scene of the Denison University campus in Granville, Ohio. The Swasey Chapel and Observatory are seen in the background. The Swasey Chapel and Observatory were named after Cleveland trustee and amateur astronomer Ambrose Swasey, the founder of the Warner and Swasey Company which built the observatory. Swasey Chapel was built in 1924 and was the first building designed for the 1917 plan for Greater Denison. Swasey funded the project and the chimes in the chapel tower are a memorial for his wife. Today the chapel is used for religious service. The Swasey observatory was built in 1909. Within the observatory are 3 telescopes used for astrophotography. It also houses an astronomy library and dark rooms. It was built using Vermont marble. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F08_013_001
Subjects: Education; Universities and colleges; Buildings; Chapels; Science and technology; Astronomical observatories; Telescopes; Denison University; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project.
Places: Granville (Ohio); Licking County (Ohio)
 

Description: Denison University Observatory, Granville, Licking County, Ohio, ca. 1940-1949. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00366
Subjects: Astronomical observatories; Cultural Ohio--Education
Places: Granville (Ohio); Licking County (Ohio)
 

Description: In 1842, Ormsby McKnight Mitchel, professor at Cincinnati College, arranged a subscription service, the Cincinnati Astronomical Society, to support the purchase of a large telescope. Nicholas Longworth donated land for the new observatory atop Mt. Ida. The cornerstone for the building was laid by John Quincy Adams in 1843; Mt. Ida was renamed in the former president's honor. Unable to sustain himself or the observatory, Mitchel left for New York; after the Civil War, the observatory passed into the hands of the University of Cincinnati. In 1873, the University relocated it to the present site at Mt. Lookout. Pictured here is the 1904 building, 3489 Observatory Place. Reverse reads: "Cinci., O. Jan. 1938. Cincinnati Observatory, from Kodak neg. furnished" View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B03F13_010_1
Subjects: Cincinnati (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Astronomical observatories; Mitchel, Ormsby MacKnight, 1809-1862
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption reads "The observatory at Western Reserve Academy, Hudson, Ohio. This is the second oldest in the United States and the instruments were brought here from Europe in 1837 by Professor Elias Loomis. Number 1 on the key map." The Loomis Observatory still stands today and houses the original equatorial telescope, transit telescope and sidereal clock. Established in 1826 as the Western Reserve College and Preparatory School, the college portion of the institution moved to Cleveland in 1882 and is now known as Case Western Reserve University. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B05F02_051_1
Subjects: Education; Schools; Science and technology; Astronomical observatories; Telescopes
Places: Hudson (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)
 

Description: The Swasey observatory was built in 1909. Within the observatory are 3 telescopes used for astrophotography. It also houses an astronomy library and dark rooms. It was built using Vermont marble. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B05F02_041_1
Subjects: Education; Universities and colleges; Science and technology; Astronomical observatories; Telescopes; Denison University; College campuses; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Granville (Ohio); Licking County (Ohio)
 

Description: The Swasey Chapel and Observatory are located on the campus of Denison University. They were named after Cleveland trustee and amateur astronomer Ambrose Swasey, the founder of the Warner and Swasey Company which built the observatory. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B05F04_014_1
Subjects: Education; Universities and colleges; Buildings; Chapels; Science and technology; Astronomical observatories; Telescopes; Denison University
Places: Granville (Ohio); Licking County (Ohio)
 

Description: On August 15, 1977, the "Big Ear" radio telescope at the Ohio State University Radio Observatory located in Delaware County detected a highly unusual signal whose source has never been identified, raising the possibility that the signal may be the first record of contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. The so-called "Wow!" signal received its name from the note Dr. Jerry Ehman wrote in the margin of this computer printout. This strange signal, unique in radio astronomy history, has never been recorded again. NAAPO, the North American Astrophysical Observatory, was chartered in 1983 as a non-profit organization originally formed to save, maintain and operate the Ohio State University Radio Observatory's (OSURO) 110-meter "Big Ear" radio telescope, Ohio's only world class radio telescope. A consortium of local colleges and a group of volunteers worked together under the NAAPO charter. Ohio Wesleyan University owned the land on which the "Big Ear" stood and sold it to land developers in 1982. OSU constructed the "Big Ear" beginning in 1956 on OWU land. They operated the radio telescope research for nearly 40 years. The developers leased the land to NAAPO from 1983 through 1997 so they could continue to operate the telescope. In 1998 the "Big Ear" radio telescope was destroyed by the developers and some of the equipment and most of the records were moved to the West Campus of the Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07146
Subjects: Astronomical observatories; Life on other planets; Science and Technology; Ohio State University--History; Telescopes
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Delaware County (Ohio)