Who discovered the first pulsar?

StarChild Question of the Month for May 2002

Question:

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Answer:

Jocelyn Bell discovered the first pulsar in 1967. At the time, she was a graduate student at Cambridge University. She was working with her advisor, Dr. Anthony Hewish, to make radio observations of the universe.

Bell and Hewish had no idea what the signals were that they detected, so they were dubbed little green men (LGM) as a reference to extraterrestrial life. Soon after, Thomas Gold showed that a spinning neutron star could make the pulses they observed.

photo of Jocelyn Bell in 1967 in front of the radio
telescope with which she discovered the first pulsar

You can read an account of the discovery by Dr. Bell Burnell which is highly entertaining. You can also learn more about her and listen to her answer some questions submitted by StarChild users.

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