Short Wave The Woman Behind A Mystery That Changed Astronomy
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Dec 29, 2022 Jocelyn Bell Burnell, a groundbreaking astrophysicist celebrated for her discovery of pulsars, shares her incredible career journey. She recounts her passionate pursuit of radio astronomy and the monumental moment in 1967 when she first detected pulsars, reshaping our understanding of dying stars. The conversation delves into the dramatic life cycle of stars, the unique properties of neutron stars, and the challenges of working in a male-dominated field. Jocelyn also reflects on her legacy and the ongoing impact of pulsars in astronomy today.
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Early Inspiration and Radio Astronomy
- Jocelyn Bell Burnell was inspired to study astronomy by Fred Hoyle's book on galaxies.
- Initially, she thought she couldn't be an astronomer because they work at night, but she found a way through radio astronomy.
Quasar Research
- Jocelyn Bell Burnell, a graduate student at Cambridge, increased the known number of quasars from 20 to 200.
- Quasars, initially mysterious, are now understood as galaxy-mass objects with dominant black holes.
Discovering the Pulsar
- While studying quasars, Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered an unusual signal, initially dismissed as noise.
- After further investigation, she and her advisor, Antony Hewish, confirmed that it was a pulsing signal from a fixed point in the sky.