On November 28, 1967 the First Pulsar Was Observed

Originally shared by annarita ruberto

On November 28, 1967 the First Pulsar Was Observed 

PSR B1919+21 is a pulsar with a period of 1.3373 seconds, and a pulse width of 0.04 second. It was the first radio pulsar discovered on November 28, 1967 by Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish. The power and regularity of the signals was thought to resemble a beacon, so for a time the source was nicknamed "LGM-1" (for "Little Green Men").

The original designation of this pulsar was CP 1919 which stands for Cambridge Pulsar at R.A. 19h 19m. It is also known as PSR J1921+2153 and is located in the constellation of Vulpecul.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell was a graduate student  and professor Antony Hewish was her thesis supervisor and head of the astronomy department at the University of Cambridge.
 
The two radio astronomers noted that the observed emission from the pulsar was pulses separated by 1.3373 seconds, originated from the same location on the sky, and kept to sidereal time. 

► In the article at the following link, Jocelyn Bell Burnell tells a delightful, personal story of how she first encountered the signals and what ensued.>>
http://www.bigear.org/vol1no1/burnell.htm

► In 1974, when Martin Ryle and Antony Hewish were awarded the physics prize for discovery of pulsars, the cosmologist Fred Hoyle rose in wrath at the omission of Jocelyn Bell, the student astronomer who had made the initial radio-telescope observation that led to the discovery. Miss Bell, now Dr. Bell Burnell, has serenely ignored the claim.
Source>> http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/20/opinion/no-nobel-prize-for-whining.html

Before the nature of the signal was determined, the researchers, Bell and her Ph.D supervisor Antony Hewish, somewhat seriously considered the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

Further reading

► The Discovery of Pulsars and the Aftermath>>
https://www.amphilsoc.org/sites/default/files/proceedings/4Longair1550204.pdf

► The SETI Episode in the 1967 Discovery of Pulsars>>
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1302.0641.pdf

► Pulsar>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsar

► The animated gif is excerpted from another my post, dedicated to PSR B1919+21 in 2013. Watch there, for further information>>
https://plus.google.com/+annaritaruberto/posts/aAcSUPLJtAo


#history_of_science #JocelynBellBurnell #discovery_of_pulsars #PSRB1919 +21