Whose discovery was the first pulsar?
Quick Answer
The first pulsar was discovered in 1967 by Jocelyn Bell Burnell, then a graduate student at Cambridge. The signal was initially nicknamed LGM-1 for “Little Green Men” because of its regularity.
The Full Story
Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered the first pulsar in 1967 while analyzing radio telescope data at the University of Cambridge. The object produced extremely regular pulses of radio waves, which at first seemed mysterious enough to spark joking speculation about extraterrestrials. It was later understood to be a rapidly rotating neutron star emitting beams of radiation. Bell Burnell’s discovery opened an entirely new area of astrophysics. The 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics went to her supervisor, Antony Hewish, and Martin Ryle, though Bell Burnell’s role is now widely recognized as crucial.
Key Facts
YouTube Angle
Suggested video title for this topic:
"A signal so strange it was nicknamed Little Green Men."