She is giving a lecture in Cambridge (England) this evening. http://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/94549
50 Years Ago Jocelyn Bell Discovered Pulsars
21–30 of 43 posts
Re: 50 Years Ago Jocelyn Bell Discovered Pulsars
#22"Later, Bell missed out when Hewish and his colleague Sir Martin Ryle were awarded the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics." See also: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/mar/08/jocelyn-bell...
This is a favourite grievance to mention with Bell, but there was no expectation she should have won the prize. She did not discover pulsars. She was a lab assistant who, as she was writing the numbers down in the lab book, first noticed that there were pulsar patterns in them. Being the first to lay eyes on something is not typically what we mean, in science, by discovering it. Or else the guy cleaning the ship's de…
> Or else the guy cleaning the ship's deck in the morning should be rewarded for discovering America.
We know the guy by the way, one Rodrigo de Triana, natural of Lepe. NASA's DSCO satellite was originally named Triana after him.
Re: 50 Years Ago Jocelyn Bell Discovered Pulsars
#23And was screwed.
Re: 50 Years Ago Jocelyn Bell Discovered Pulsars
#24"Later, Bell missed out when Hewish and his colleague Sir Martin Ryle were awarded the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics." See also: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/mar/08/jocelyn-bell...
This is a favourite grievance to mention with Bell, but there was no expectation she should have won the prize. She did not discover pulsars. She was a lab assistant who, as she was writing the numbers down in the lab book, first noticed that there were pulsar patterns in them. Being the first to lay eyes on something is not typically what we mean, in science, by discovering it. Or else the guy cleaning the ship's de…
> Being the first to lay eyes on something is not typically what we mean, in science, by discovering it.
Yes it is. Take Pluto, for example. Astronomers predicted Pluto mathematically from other planets' orbits decades before it was 'discovered':
> Subsequent observations of Neptune in the late 19th century led astronomers to speculate that Uranus's orbit was being disturbed by another planet besides Neptune. (Edit: changed quote to correct one.)
> Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 [...]
> On February 18, 1930, after nearly a year of searching, Tombaugh discovered a possible moving object on photographic plates taken on January 23 and 29.
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto)
Edit: He also has an asteroid and a Lunar crater named after him.
Re: 50 Years Ago Jocelyn Bell Discovered Pulsars
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
There was an overlooked woman on that too: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_Franklin
The prize was awarded in 1962, 4 years after she died of ovarian cancer. The Nobel is not awarded posthumously.
I understand why they do that, since it's supposed to be an encouragement. But there are two aspects of the Nobel prize: reputation and prize money.
If they would change the rules to make exceptions for shared discoveries, it won't dilute the reputation boost for the scientists in question in the slightest, and if they give the money to the surviving winners that problem is solved too.
Re: 50 Years Ago Jocelyn Bell Discovered Pulsars
#26Anyone know about taking astronomical photographs? There's one such photo at the top of this article. 1. The night's sky never actually looks like that. Is it simply that the exposure was long so that the brightness of each object is enhanced? How long would the exposure have to be? 2. What is that pinkish nebula-like band/arc that the photo is centered around?
Hello, not a direct reply to your questions but you'd be right to say that most photos you see of space are inaccurate for colour. We call them "false colour" images.
Typically what you'll do is take images of the same object with a telescope at a variety of different wavelengths. The basic pattern is to use 3 images, and then use each one to represent a different colour from red, green and blue. Then layering one on top of another you can create an image that looks like the bright and colourful ones you typically see of nebula/pulsars etc.
This way you get lots of detail, since different parts of the celestial bodies are only visible at certain wavelengths. So a single wavelength image would be over saturated with certain effects.
So even though these are technically "false" colour images of space. There is a scientific reason for doing it.
Not saying that the photo in the article is false, I think it's just had a long exposure time.
Anyway, hope this helps understanding of astrophotography in general.
Re: 50 Years Ago Jocelyn Bell Discovered Pulsars
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
There was an overlooked woman on that too: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_Franklin
The prize was awarded in 1962, 4 years after she died of ovarian cancer. The Nobel is not awarded posthumously.
Yes, I know that it’s not awarded posthumously.
My understanding is that she was not given credit in her lifetime so she would not have been awarded it anyway. Unless, someone had explained her contribution in those 4 years.
“Although her works on coal and viruses were appreciated in her lifetime, her contributions to the discovery of the structure of DNA were largely recognised posthumously.”
Re: 50 Years Ago Jocelyn Bell Discovered Pulsars
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
The prize was awarded in 1962, 4 years after she died of ovarian cancer. The Nobel is not awarded posthumously.
Yes, I know that it’s not awarded posthumously. My understanding is that she was not given credit in her lifetime so she would not have been awarded it anyway. Unless, someone had explained her contribution in those 4 years. “Although her works on coal and viruses were appreciated in her lifetime, her contributions to the discovery of the structure of DNA were largely recognised posthumously.”
There's actually an apology from - Watson, I think - as an addendum in my old copy of The Double Helix bought in the 1980s.
Re: 50 Years Ago Jocelyn Bell Discovered Pulsars
#29Anyone know about taking astronomical photographs? There's one such photo at the top of this article. 1. The night's sky never actually looks like that. Is it simply that the exposure was long so that the brightness of each object is enhanced? How long would the exposure have to be? 2. What is that pinkish nebula-like band/arc that the photo is centered around?
That's the milky way, though I'm sure that's not visible from anywhere in earth like that. Whenever I've seen it, it has been a band across the sky, not an arc. Perhaps a composite using a wide-angle lens?
One of the other replies to your comments talks about false colour photography, however this one, I think is probably true colour with long exposure.
The problem you have is that for very dim objects the colour-sensing 'cone' cells in your retina pretty bad. In low light conditions you're much more reliant on the rod cells, which are monochrome only (and more abundant in the periphery - if you are ever looking at a dim object, try looking at it from the corner of your eye).
Re: 50 Years Ago Jocelyn Bell Discovered Pulsars
#30Interview with her on the BBC Radio 4 show "The Life Scientific" here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016812j
A consistently fascinating series.