Hulse , Russell Alan

Hulse , Russell Alan
(1950–) American astrophysicist
Hulse was born in New York City. He was interested in science from an early age. In 1963 he entered the Bronx High School of Science and in 1966 went to Cooper Union college in lower Manhattan. In 1974 Hulse was working as a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, under the supervision of Joseph Taylor. It was arranged that he would spend the summer in Puerto Rico using the Arecibo Radio Telescope to search for pulsars, a type of star first observed by Jocelyn Bell Burnell in 1967. Among several pulsars detected by Hulse one particular example, named 1913+16 in the constellation Aquila, proved to be of special significance.
Hulse initially found that the pulsar had a short period of 0.059 seconds. More detailed examination, however, revealed that the pulse rate was not constant but varied by some 5 microseconds from day to day. At first Hulse suspected a computer fault. But despite writing a new program, the variability remained. Eventually Hulse spotted that the variation was cyclical repeating itself every 7.75 hours.
Such phenomena, Hulse argued, would arise naturally if the pulsar was a binary, orbiting an undetected companion star. This would produce a Doppler effect. That is, when the pulsar travels in its orbit towards the Earth the pulses would be crowded together, giving a greater than average pulse rate; when, however, it traveled away from the Earth the pulses would be more spread out and yield a lower than average frequency.
In collaboration with Taylor, Hulse went on to establish some of the basic properties of the pulsar. It appeared to have a mass equivalent to 2.8 solar masses, was thought to be a neutron star with a diameter no more than 20–30 kilometers, and to have an approaching velocity of 300 kps (kilometers per second) and a receding velocity of 75 kps. For his work in this field Hulse shared the 1993 Nobel Prize for physics with Joseph Taylor.
After completing his work on the pulsar 1913+16 in 1977 Hulse moved to Princeton, abandoned astronomy, and began to work at the Plasma Physics Laboratory.

Scientists. . 2011.

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  • Hulse, Russell Alan — born Nov. 28, 1950, New York, N.Y., U.S. U.S. physicist. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts. With his professor, Joseph H. Taylor, Jr., he discovered dozens of pulsars. One pulsar, PSR 1913+16, proved to be a binary star; the… …   Universalium

  • Hulse, Russell Alan — (n. 28 nov. 1950, Nueva York, N.Y., EE.UU.). Físico estadounidense. Recibió su doctorado de la Universidad de Massachusetts. Con su profesor Joseph H. Taylor, Jr. descubrieron decenas de pulsares. Uno de esos, el PSR 1913+16, resultó ser una… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Russell Alan Hulse — (* 28. November 1950 in New York) ist ein US amerikanischer Physiker und Träger des Nobelpreises für Physik, den er mit seinem Doktorvater, Professor Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr., teilt. Verliehen wurde der Nobelpreis 1993 beiden für die Entdeckung… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Russell Alan Hulse — (28 novembre 1950 à New York) est un physicien américain. C est un spécialiste des études des pulsars et des ondes gravitationnelles. Il est colauréat du prix Nobel de physique de 1993 avec son maître de thèse Joseph Hooton Taylor[1]. Sommaire 1 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Russell Alan Hulse — Infobox Scientist box width = name = Russell Alan Hulse birth date = Birth date and age|1950|11|28 birth place = New York City, New York nationality = United States workplaces = UT Dallas Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory NRAO alma mater =… …   Wikipedia

  • Hulse — Russell Alan …   Scientists

  • Russell A. Hulse — Russell Alan Hulse Russell Alan Hulse (né le 28 novembre 1950) est un physicien américain, lauréat du prix Nobel de physique, partagé avec son maître de thèse Joseph Hooton Taylor, pour la découverte d un nouveau type de pulsar, une découverte… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Russell A. Hulse — Russell Alan Hulse (* 28. November 1950 in New York) ist ein US amerikanischer Physiker und Träger des Nobelpreises für Physik, den er mit seinem Doktorvater, Professor Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr., teilt. Verliehen wurde der Nobelpreis 1993 beiden… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hulse — Russell Alan Hulse (* 28. November 1950 in New York) ist ein US amerikanischer Physiker und Träger des Nobelpreises für Physik, den er mit seinem Doktorvater, Professor Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr., teilt. Verliehen wurde der Nobelpreis 1993 beiden… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Russell — Russell, Bertrand Arthur William Russell, tercer conde de Russell, John Russell, Ken * * * (as used in expressions) George William Russell Baker, Russell (Wayne) Banks, Russell Bentley, Eric (Russell) Browder, Earl (Russell) Hertzsprung Russell,… …   Enciclopedia Universal

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