In 1967, a graduate student noticed a bit of scruff in telescope data and discovered the first pulsar

When a young postgraduate student at the University of Cambridge analysed millions of pages of records made by radio telescopes, she detected an unusually small and repetitive signal. What would have been easily overlooked as an interference turned out to be one of the greatest discoveries in astronomy in the 20th century.According to the University of Cambridge, the discovery of the first pulsar was made by Jocelyn Bell Burnell during research aimed at studying quasars using interplanetary scintillation with a radio telescope. The role of Jocelyn Burnell at the time included the review of enormous chart-recorder paper to develop the skills to identify random noises from any real signals.What distinguished the observed phenomenon from usual noise is that its behaviour repeated periodically, and it kept showing up at the same point in the sky. That made it quite impossible to overlook. What played the biggest part in making the discovery possible, along with luck, was a profound understanding of the device's workings gained through years of analysis.The signal was so precise that the team joked about aliensThe pulses were arriving at extremely regular intervals, something scientists were not used to seeing from natural radio sources. The team made fun of their observation by using the term “little green men”, which is usually abbreviated LGM.This was simply a popularised term and has never been used seriously by any scientist who studied the emission. However, its popularity arose from the fact that the signal was rather unique and did not resemble any known natural phenomenon. The emergence of more signals quickly made it clear to researchers that they were dealing with a whole new category of astrophysical objects.NASA explains that pulsars are fast-rotating neutron stars that have beams of energy emanating from them. These beams sweep across the earth, giving rise to pulses, much like those observed from a lighthouse.Pulsars became the first direct evidence of neutron starsBefore the discovery of pulsars, neutron stars were mostly theoretical bodies in the minds of scientists, who thought that the formation of such bodies could follow star collapses; however, no solid evidence for this assumption was available at the time. Reportedly, pulsars served as the initial proof of the existence of neutron stars. This discovery brought about revolutionary changes in astrophysics, as it made clear that dead stars may continue their activity, albeit in precise and detectable ways.An article also announces the discovery of a pulsar in 1968, which presented the first pulsating radio source known to science. The researchers found the source characterised by fast pulsation and completely different from other sources ever discovered.As years passed, pulsars were discovered to be important scientific instruments. They enabled astronomers to explore star death processes, magnetic fields, and exotic matter forms. In addition, pulsars played a role in studying gravitational physics because their accurate timings helped test certain predictions of Einstein's theory of general relativity.According to NASA, pulsars are still being used to explore the most extreme conditions in the Universe. The breakthrough did not look important at firstThe first point that keeps this story relevant is that the discovery did not happen in any spectacular way. In other words, there was no spectacular image through a telescope or some sort of amazing cosmic discovery. As reportedly noted, Bell Burnell's discovery showed that one should learn how to recognise the patterns found in difficult observational data sets. It is true that the pulse seemed like a very frustrating interference and far from anything amazing.This is why this story is so relatable to all human beings. In order to make a scientific discovery, one must look at things in detail and be able to realise that things are different from what is expected.The human story behind the scienceThis discovery also sparked discussions regarding scientific recognition. In 1974, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Antony Hewish and Martin Ryle for their role in the discovery of pulsars, excluding Bell Burnell from the list of winners.Reportedly, her exclusion later became a prime example of scientific recognition disputes in modern astrophysics. Nevertheless, the discovery cannot be dissociated from the tenacity and skills of Bell Burnell herself. Her first sighting of an anomaly on her graph paper turned into an entire new field in the science of astrophysics, redefining humanity’s knowledge of dead stars.The message of the universe lay within noise. One graduate student decided not to ignore it.