On this day in space! Nov. 28, 1967: Astronomers Discover the 1st Pulsar

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On Nov. 28, 1967, astronomers found the first pulsar.

On Nov. 28, 1967, astronomers found the first pulsar.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell's chart tracking the signal from what turned out to be the first pulsar to be discovered in 1967. (Image credit: Cambridge University Library/Wikipedia)

The first pulsar was observed by Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish. They were looking at the constellation Vulpecula when they saw a star flickering with regular pulses separated by 1.33 seconds. At first they had no idea what it was, so they jokingly nicknamed the signal Little Green Men 1.

After more pulsars were discovered, they were able to rule out aliens. Pulsars are naturally occurring phenomena, and they can be handy tools for astronomers. For example, some pulsars are extremely accurate clocks.

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Hanneke Weitering
Hanneke Weitering
Contributing expert

Hanneke Weitering is a multimedia journalist in the Pacific Northwest reporting on the future of aviation at FutureFlight.aero and Aviation International News and was previously the Editor for Spaceflight and Astronomy news here at Space.com. As an editor with over 10 years of experience in science journalism she has previously written for Scholastic Classroom Magazines, MedPage Today and The Joint Institute for Computational Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After studying physics at the University of Tennessee in her hometown of Knoxville, she earned her graduate degree in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting (SHERP) from New York University. Hanneke joined the Space.com team in 2016 as a staff writer and producer, covering topics including spaceflight and astronomy. She currently lives in Seattle, home of the Space Needle, with her cat and two snakes. In her spare time, Hanneke enjoys exploring the Rocky Mountains, basking in nature and looking for dark skies to gaze at the cosmos. 

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