Discover the Stars: Top 14 Fun Facts About Astronomer Jocelyn Bell Burnell

1. Tennis Court-Sized Telescope

Feeling like she "served" her scientific career well, Jocelyn Bell Burnell transformed radio astronomy into a smashing match of intellect: As a PhD student, she built a prototype and contributed to the construction of a colossal telescope - equivalent to the size of 57 tennis courts - at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory outside Cambridge, dedicated to studying radio emissions from quasars.
Source => cam.ac.uk

2. Cosmic Justice

When she's not outshining Nobel laureates or throwing cosmic curveballs, you might find Jocelyn Bell Burnell hanging out among the neutron stars: In a perfectly timed plot twist, Bell Burnell discovered pulsars as a graduate student, but it was her supervisor, Antony Hewish, who snagged the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics for their find. However, not one to be relegated to the interstellar sidelines, Jocelyn eventually basked in her own celestial glory by receiving numerous awards and recognitions, including the prestigious Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2018. Cosmic justice at its finest!
Source => britannica.com

Discover the cosmic love story of Cecilia Payne, who unraveled the stellar secrets of starlight, and her Russian astronomer partner Sergei Gaposchkin! 🌟💫💕

=> Fun Facts about Cecilia-Payne

3. Supernova Philanthropy

In a cosmic tale of pulsars and pocketbooks, our heroine Jocelyn Bell Burnell revs up her scientific stardom like a stellar J. K. Rowling on the sky's bestseller list, sans the potions and incantations: Winner of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2018, awarded a whopping $3 million, Jocelyn is graciously lightning-bolting her funds towards promoting diversity in science, proving that even in the face of Nobel Prize snubs, she still supernovas convention with her unrelenting passion for discovery.
Source => nature.com

4. Hockey-Playing Astrophysicist

When life gave her protons, she made pulsars and played hockey: Bell Burnell, the lone female physics student at the University of Glasgow, found solace in sports and drama while enduring discrimination, ultimately discovering the first pulsars and revolutionizing astrophysics.
Source => gla.ac.uk

5. Sky's Cosmic DJ

Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the cosmic DJ who spun the turntables of the sky and made stars dance to her pulsating beats: In the 1960s, she defied gender expectations as one of the few female physicists, earning her Ph.D. in astrophysics and conducting groundbreaking research on quasars using radio telescopes, leading to the discovery of pulsars.
Source => brainyquote.com

6. Unmasking Little Green Men 1

Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away—or at least at Cambridge University—Little Green Men 1 were sending cryptic messages to a persistent star-gazer: Serious reveal: Jocelyn Bell Burnell's 1967 discovery of the first radio pulsars initially had quite the outlandish alias, but eventually, these mysterious signals were unmasked as rapidly rotating neutron stars, bringing Bell Burnell stellar accolades such as the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2018 and the Copley Medal in 2021.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

7. Big Bang Impact Philanthropy

When Jocelyn Bell Burnell isn't busy saving the universe or being an intergalactic trailblazer, she's literally giving away stellar sums of cash to help underprivileged aspiring scientists break free from the black hole of inequality: Bell Burnell, after receiving numerous prestigious accolades like the Herschel Medal and Royal Medal, donated her entire Breakthrough Prize money to establish a fund that assists underrepresented groups in pursuing physics research careers. Talk about a big bang impact!
Source => en.wikipedia.org

8. Female Physics Trailblazer

In a universe far, far away, where female physicists kick celestial butt: Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell was awarded the prestigious Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2018 for her groundbreaking discovery of pulsars, becoming the first female physicist to snag such a stellar award.
Source => iop.org

9. Pulsar-Powered Generosity

Who said pulsars can't pulse-ate the spirit of generosity? Jocelyn Bell Burnell certainly did: In 2018, she was awarded the "Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics" for her discovery of pulsars and selflessly donated the entire £2.3 million prize money to support women, ethnic minority, and refugee students pursuing physics research.
Source => epws.org

10. Fixer Upper: Cosmic Edition

If Jocelyn Bell Burnell had participated in an intergalactic version of HGTV's "Fixer Upper," she'd have probably said, "I'll take the one with 57 tennis courts of wires and cables, thank you very much": Little did the world know that her DIY project at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory would lead to the discovery of pulsars, super-dense celestial objects that were found in 1967 thanks to her hard work and radio-telescope building skills.
Source => cam.ac.uk

11. Humorous Cosmic Impact

Who says scientists don't have a sense of humor? Jocelyn Bell Burnell may not be cashing in her million-dollar prize for a fun-filled trip to Mars, but she's certainly making a cosmic impact here on Earth: Using her Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics winnings, she created the Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund, supporting underrepresented groups in their pursuit of graduate studies and promoting diversity within the scientific arena.
Source => medium.com

12. Dancing with Pulsars

They say curiosity killed the cat, but for Jocelyn Bell Burnell, curiosity only led her to the cosmic dance floor of pulsars: In the midst of exploring quasars, Bell Burnell stumbled upon pulsars, revolutionizing our understanding of fundamental forces—even though her thesis adviser took home the Nobel Prize, leaving Bell to shine on studying wavelengths and admiring the jitterbug of microquasars.
Source => news.cornell.edu

13. Pulsating Gender Equality

They say behind every great man is a great woman, but Jocelyn Bell Burnell put a cosmic spin on that theory by finding what was pulsing behind a series of mysterious interstellar radio signals: A determined dame of science, Bell Burnell overcame discrimination to discover pulsars in her field of astrophysics, eventually winning the 2018 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics and generously donating her winnings to fund underrepresented postgraduate physics students.
Source => gla.ac.uk

14. Exclusive Astro Club

If Jocelyn Bell Burnell were an exclusive club, she'd be the one with a mile-long waiting list requiring secret handshakes, and a dash of stardust in your DNA: This astrophysics powerhouse has earned honors from around the world, such as the Michael Faraday Prize and Royal Medal, and is not only a Visiting Professor of Astrophysics at Oxford, but also a member of seven global Academies, and the first female President of both the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Institute of Physics.
Source => royalsociety.org