How Jocelyn Bell once made a discovery that changed the field of astronomy

By Berly McCoy,

Regina G. Barber, Rebecca Ramirez

Published February 26, 2025 at 10:05 AM EST

At the center of this image made by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is a very young and powerful pulsar, known as PSR B1509-58, or B1509 for short.

In 1967 Jocelyn Bell Burnell made a discovery that revolutionized the field of astronomy. She detected the radio signals emitted by certain dying stars called pulsars.

This encore episode: Jocelyn's story.

Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber talks to Jocelyn about her winding career, her discovery and how pulsars are pushing forward the field of astronomy today.

Have cosmic queries and unearthly musings? Contact us at shortwave@npr.org. We might open an intergalactic case file and reveal our findings in a future episode.

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This episode was produced by Berly McCoy, edited by Rebecca Ramirez and fact checked by Rachel Carlson. The audio engineer was Natasha Branch.