Bursts, bangs and things that go bump in the night

Talk by Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell. We will also have the Sky in December.

With improvements in telescopes and detectors, astronomers no longer have to use long exposures (or long integration times). We are now seeing short-duration events, and variability on short time scales, in many branches of astronomy. This talk will describe some of the more amazing or surprising things we are finding.

Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell is a pioneering Northern Irish astrophysicist who, as a postgraduate student in 1967, discovered the first radio pulsars. This discovery is considered one of the most important astronomical advances of the 20th century, but controversially, she was not included in the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to her supervisor, Antony Hewish, and Martin Ryle.

Key Achievements and Career Highlights
Discovery of Pulsars: While at the University of Cambridge, Bell Burnell built a large radio telescope and manually analyzed vast amounts of data. She noticed an unusual, regularly pulsing signal, which she nicknamed “LGM-1” (Little Green Man 1). This turned out to be the signal from a rapidly spinning neutron star, later termed a pulsar.

Controversy and Recognition: The Nobel Prize for the discovery went to her male supervisors. While many scientists protested her omission, Bell Burnell has stated she felt it was appropriate at the time given her student status, though she has since commented that being a woman and a graduate student likely “demoted” her standing.

Later Career and Advocacy: Bell Burnell has had a distinguished career, holding positions such as Professor of Physics at the Open University and Dean of Science at the University of Bath. She was the first female President of the Institute of Physics and the first female President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. She is a staunch advocate for women and underrepresented minorities in science, notably co-founding the Athena SWAN initiative.

Major Awards and Philanthropy: She has received numerous accolades, including a Damehood in 2007, the Royal Society’s Copley Medal in 2021, and the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2018. She donated the entire $3 million Breakthrough Prize money to establish the Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund, which supports physics postgraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell’s work not only opened up a new field of astrophysics but has also made her an inspirational figure for aspiring scientists worldwide.