Imagine yourself in the shoes of a young astrophysicist in the 1960s. You're staring at a long, daunting chart of radio signals, stretching 30 meters across. Hours melt away as you analyze the data, searching for patterns in the seemingly endless waveforms. Then, amidst the monotony, you see it - a tiny spike, irregular and out of place. A thrill shoots through you. Is it just noise? Or... could it be something more?
Driven by curiosity and a deep passion for understanding the universe, you delve deeper. You analyse the data, again and again, searching for confirmation. And then, you find it! Another spike, mirroring the first. Your heart leaps - you've stumbled upon something extraordinary. This is no mere blip on a chart; this is a signal, a beacon from a pulsating neutron star, a celestial object spinning so fast that it emits bursts of radio waves like a cosmic lighthouse.
This remarkable discovery in 1967 would forever change the landscape of astrophysics. And it all happened because of the keen eye and unwavering dedication of a 24-year-old PhD student at Cambridge University - Jocelyn Bell Burnell.
Jocelyn Bell Burnell (born 15 July 1943) had already decided to pursue astronomy by the age of 13 after reading some books on the topic her father brought. During her undergraduate years, it wasn’t uncommon for male students to cat-call, heckle and stamp their feet when a female student entered a lecture theatre – something Burnell found herself facing alone in the final years of her undergraduate degree as the only woman left on her course. “I’d already felt like a bit of a pioneering woman during my time as an undergraduate when I was the only woman in a class of fifty people doing their honours physics degree,” she said. Undeterred, she went on to earn a PhD at the University of Cambridge.
As part of her PhD, Bell Burnell and her five colleagues built a radio telescope on a patch of land two-and-a-half times the size of a football pitch. It took two years to construct and required a lot of manual labour. Her colleagues assumed she would be too “girly” to do such things – “It’s not suitable for a woman, you’re working up a ladder all the time,” she was told. But Bell Burnell had other ideas – she was too hands-on for that attitude to remain in place for long – and she quickly got stuck into the construction work. After the construction of the telescope, its operation became the sole responsibility of Burnell. Unlike modern digital data collection, observing the entire sky took four days, requiring a staggering 120 meters of paper. Burnell's six months of observation amounted to a mind-boggling 5.3 kilometres of paper data, which she meticulously analyzed by hand.
In the autumn of 1967, Jocelyn discovered pulsars by spotting a tiny bit of ‘scruff’ in the 30 meters of chart recordings made by the telescope each day.“…..the actual moment of discovery was the night of November 27/28, when I found the famous ‘bit of scruff’ when studying tens of meters or chart recordings” she would say later in an interview. After diligently sifting through boxes overflowing with data, she conclusively ruled out the possibility of the signal being a natural twinkling source or human interference. Instead, the near-perfect regularity of the peaks, repeating every 1.3 seconds, led her to write a rather intriguing note in the margins of her lab book – "LGM-1: Little Green Men?"
It soon became evident that this little "scruff" was the first-ever detection of a pulsar – a rapidly rotating neutron star emitting a steady ticking signal of radio waves. "It was a completely unexpected result that caused a major reassessment within astrophysics," reflects Bell Burnell. Initially, her supervisor, Antony Hewish, was sceptical of her discovery, convinced the signal was either of human origin or a sign of extraterrestrial intelligence. Bell Burnell, along with her colleagues, meticulously tested for all possible explanations. They ruled out alien life by demonstrating the absence of a Doppler shift in the pulses, which would be expected if they orbited their own sun. Additionally, the pulses were not aligned with Earth's rotation, further confirming their non-terrestrial origin.
Her meticulous analysis of the radio telescope data revealed the first ever detected signals from a pulsar. These rapidly rotating neutron stars, remnants of collapsed stars, emit beams of radiation that sweep across the Earth at precise intervals. Her discovery revolutionized our understanding of these fascinating objects and opened a new window into the mysteries of the universe.
But Burnell's journey wasn't without its challenges. In a field dominated by men, she faced resistance and her contributions weren't always acknowledged. While Jocelyn Bell Burnell's discovery of pulsars marked a turning point in astrophysics, it was unfortunately not met with immediate recognition. Despite playing a crucial role in the groundbreaking research, she was not included in the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to her supervisor, Antony Hewish, and Martin Ryle. This omission sparked controversy and ignited debates about gender inequality and recognition in scientific circles.
Though initially disappointed, Bell Burnell never let the lack of Nobel recognition define her. Instead, she continued to excel in her field, receiving numerous prestigious awards and accolades, including:
• Herschel Medal (1989)
• Michael Faraday Prize (2010)
• Royal Medal (2015)
• Grande Médaille (2018)
• Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2018)
In 2018, the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, often referred to as the "alternative Nobel," recognized Bell Burnell's outstanding contributions to the field of astrophysics. This award served as a significant acknowledgement of her exceptional work and a long-overdue recognition of her impact on science.
Beyond her scientific achievements, Bell Burnell has also been a vocal advocate for women in STEM fields. She has spoken out against the objectification and marginalization of female scientists, highlighting her own experiences with sexism in the early stages of her career. Notably, she criticized a BBC interview where she was presented as a young, attractive woman rather than a brilliant scientist. This incident further brought attention to the need for equal representation and recognition for women in the scientific community.
Jocelyn Bell Burnell's story is an inspiring testament to the power of resilience and determination. Despite facing challenges and injustices, she has remained a steadfast champion for scientific curiosity and progress. Her legacy extends far beyond the discovery of pulsars, serving as a powerful symbol for women in science and a reminder that the pursuit of knowledge should be driven by passion, not prejudice.
Today, Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, a title bestowed upon her in 2021, stands as a towering figure in the scientific community. Her story is a testament to the power of curiosity, perseverance, and the unwavering pursuit of knowledge. She reminds us that even amidst the vastness of the universe, even the smallest anomaly can hold the key to unlocking profound truths about the world around us.