Passage
In the summer of , Jocelyn Bell Burnell, a graduate student at Cambridge, spent her afternoons analyzing miles of paper charts produced by a newly constructed radio telescope. The telescope, which she had helped build, was designed to study quasars. However, in August, she noticed a strange "scruff" on the chart recordings—a signal that occupied less than a hundredth of an inch. As the autumn progressed, she realized this anomalous signal reappeared at the same location in the sky each day, pulsating with incredible regularity every seconds. When she first brought the chart to her advisor, Antony Hewish, he initially dismissed it as man-made interference, arguing that the telescope was likely picking up a passing car or faulty wiring. Undeterred, Bell Burnell continued her observations, soon locating a second, entirely different pulsating source in a separate part of the sky. This second signal, found in December, effectively ruled out local interference and convinced Hewish that they were looking at a genuine astronomical phenomenon. By February of the following year, their findings were published, igniting a global search for what would soon be named pulsars.
Based on the passage, in what chronological order did these events occur, from earliest to latest?
- 1Jocelyn Bell Burnell notes a minuscule anomalous marking, referred to as 'scruff,' on a paper chart.
- 2Antony Hewish argues that the telescope's signal is likely caused by a local source such as a passing car.
- 3A second pulsating signal is detected, proving the source of the anomaly is not local.
- 4A research paper is published that initiates a worldwide interest in pulsars.