Air Force Sergeant Beat Famous Scientist to Discover Pulsars
In a surprising turn of events, it has been revealed that an Air Force staff sergeant manning an early warning radar station in Alaska may have beaten Jocelyn Bell-Burnell to the discovery of pulsars. Bell-Burnell, a graduate student at the University of Cambridge, is widely credited with the discovery of pulsars in 1967. However, it appears that the Air Force staff sergeant noticed a faint signal on his radar scope earlier that same year. The sergeant, Charles Schisler, was unable to come forward with his findings until 2007, long after the instrument had been decommissioned.
Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars that emit pulsed emissions as their magnetic fields sweep across Earth’s line of sight. These stars are formed when massive stars explode into supernovas and become ultra-dense neutron stars. Pulsars have powerful magnetic fields and emit high-energy beams of light, making them resemble cosmic lighthouses.
Bell-Burnell made her discovery while monitoring a new radio telescope at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory. She noticed a faint signal coming from a specific area of the sky, disappearing and reappearing at 1.34-second intervals. After ruling out known sources and interference, she and her supervisor, Antony Hewish, concluded it might be a signal from an alien civilization, jokingly calling it “Little Green Men” or LGM-1. Bell-Burnell later discovered more signals, which she dubbed “pulsars.” This groundbreaking discovery led to the exploration of the universe and the detection of the universe’s gravitational wave background.
Meanwhile, Schisler had noticed a faint signal on his radar scope at the Clear Air Force Station in Alaska. The signal appeared week after week, and Schisler noticed it appeared four minutes earlier each day. Familiar with the rising of stars, Schisler concluded that the blip must be some kind of star. He calculated the approximate position of the signal’s source in the Crab Nebula and shared his discovery with an astronomer at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. Schisler went on to record about a dozen radio sources likely to be pulsars without fully understanding their significance until the official discovery was announced.
According to Bell-Burnell, there were others, including a woman visiting the University of Chicago’s observatory in the 1950s, who may have observed pulsar-like signals without realizing their significance. Unfortunately, the information was classified, and these individuals were unable to share their findings with the scientific community.
While Bell-Burnell and her supervisor were the first to conclude that they were observing coherent pulses, the telltale signature of a radio pulsar, the contributions of individuals like Schisler would have provided valuable observational data for astronomers. “I wish we had had a way to communicate with the scientific community,” Schisler said.
This discovery sheds new light on the history of pulsar research and highlights the importance of recognizing the contributions of all individuals involved in scientific breakthroughs. Despite the timing discrepancy, Bell-Burnell’s and Hewish’s accomplishment remains significant as they were the first to understand the nature of pulsars and their pulsating emissions.