[ HEARTBEAT ]
Narrator:
NOVEMBER 28, 1967.
CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND.
JOCELYN BELL IS AN ASTRONOMY
STUDENT EXAMINING
RADIO WAVE DATA FROM THE MOST
SENSITIVE TELESCOPE OF ITS KIND.
JOCELYN BELL IS
LOOKING FOR QUASARS,
OBJECTS THAT ARE 100 TIMES
BRIGHTER THAN THE MILKY WAY.
Narrator:
SHE ANALYZES THE 100 FEET
OF RADIO WAVE DATA
GENERATED EVERY NIGHT.
AND IT'S JUST ALL
ON CHART PAPER,
I MEAN, [laughing] MILES
AND MILES OF CHART PAPER.
THAT'S THE WAY
THEY DID IT BACK THEN.
AND SHE'S GOING THROUGH
AND LOOKING FOR,
YOU KNOW, RADIO SOURCES.
WHAT THEY'RE EXPECTING TO SEE
IS RADIO EMISSION
IN CONTINUOUS,
BUT SOMEWHAT RANDOM, BURSTS.
Narrator:
INSTEAD, SOMETHING ELSE
GRABS HER ATTENTION.
IT'S A REGULAR PULSE.
WHAT SHE SEES IS A SIGNAL SPACED
PRECISELY 1 1/3 SECONDS APART.
IT'S VERY REGULAR, LIKE A CLOCK,
BETTER THAN ANY CLOCK,
IN FACT, THAT WE COULD BUILD.
Narrator:
THE MYSTERIOUS PULSE IS NOT
FROM LITTLE GREEN MEN,
BUT FROM SOMETHING
JUST AS INCREDIBLE.
JOCELYN BELL'S LGM1 SIGNAL
COMES FROM A NEW
COSMOLOGICAL PHENOMENON.
IN FEBRUARY 1968,
BELL AND HEWISH PUBLISH
THE DISCOVERY OF A SUPERDENSE,
HIGHLY MAGNETIZED,
CELESTIAL BODY:
A NEUTRON STAR.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A GIANT
STAR DIES IS IT COLLAPSES.
AND IT COLLAPSES DOWN
INTO A NEUTRON STAR,
SO DENSE, A SUGAR-CUBE
PIECE THIS BIG
WOULD WEIGH MORE THAN
10,000 AIRCRAFT CARRIERS.
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
AND IT'S SPINNING VERY FAST
AND, BECAUSE IT HAS THESE
STRONG MAGNETIC FIELDS,
IT'S SENDING OUT BEAMS
OF RADIO ENERGY
AND ALSO LIGHT INTO SPACE.
[ RESONATING ]
IT'S GIVING OFF
VERY POWERFUL JETS,
ONLY IN TWO DIRECTIONS.
Man:
AS THE STAR IS ROTATING,
THE SIGNAL,
IF IT'S POINTING TOWARDS US,
CAN BE DETECTED.
IT'S KIND OF LIKE
A LIGHTHOUSE.
SO AS THE LIGHTHOUSE SPINS,
YOU SEE THE LIGHT,
YOU SEE THE LIGHT.
Narrator:
THE PULSATING NEUTRON
STAR RESPONSIBLE
FOR THE LGM1 SIGNAL
GETS THE NICKNAME
PULSAR.
THE THEORY THAT
ANTHONY HEWISH PRESENTS
TO THE ASTRONAUTICAL WORLD
TURNS IT UPSIDE DOWN
AND, IN FACT,
BRINGS HIM THE NOBEL PRIZE
FOR ONE OF THE GREATEST
DISCOVERIES MADE.
Narrator:
THE DISCOVERY LAYS
THE FOUNDATIONS
OF A PATHWAY THROUGH THE COSMOS,
BECAUSE PULSARS ARE MORE THAN
JUST ANOTHER TYPE OF STAR.
THEY ARE BEACONS
FOR GALACTIC NAVIGATION.
AS WE'VE BEGUN
TO MAP THE UNIVERSE,
WE'VE NOW DISCOVERED
OVER 1,000 OF THESE PULSARS.
ANY INTELLIGENT SPECIES
WILL KNOW
ABOUT ALL THE PULSARS
IN A NEIGHBORHOOD,
SO YOU CAN PUT THEM
ON SPACECRAFT
AS KIND OF MARKERS ON A MAP.
Narrator:
THE NASA TEAMS BEHIND THE
VOYAGER AND PIONEER MISSIONS
INCLUDE MAPS OF THE PULSARS
NEAREST OUR PLANET.
IF INTELLIGENT LIFE INTERCEPTS
THESE DEEP-SPACE PROBES,
THEY'LL HAVE A CLEAR MAP
TO US ON EARTH.
