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What Discoveries Were Made Possible by Jocelyn Bell Burnell’s Discovery of Pulsars?

-- | July 23, 2016

Question: What discoveries were made possible by Jocelyn Bell Burnell’s discovery of pulsars? — Anna

Answer: Before Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered the pulsed radio emission from a spinning neutron star, astronomers did not have a way to study the remnants of supernovae. The study of pulsars has allowed astronomers to better characterize this end-state for massive stars by studying their mass, rotation properties, and composition.

Jeff Mangum

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