Russell Alan Hulse discovered a pulsar whose measured pulse period changed systematically during repeated observations. With Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr., he interpreted the variations as orbital Doppler shifts in a compact binary star system.
The changing period was the clue rather than a defect in the clock. A regular intrinsic pulse train observed from an orbiting source provides a radial velocity curve and orbital timing information. The discovery created a laboratory for later tests of relativistic gravity, including the loss of orbital energy through gravitational radiation.[ref]
Discovery of a Pulsar in a Binary System by Russell Alan Hulse and Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr.. p. L51, period variation and binary interpretation
[ref]The Discovery of the Binary Pulsar by Russell Alan Hulse. Nobel lecture: search, variable-period observations and recognition of orbital motion
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Portrait of Russell Alan Hulse
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Russell Alan Hulse is an American astrophysicist known for his co-discovery of the first binary pulsar, PSR B1913+16, in 1974, along with Joseph H. Taylor Jr. This discovery provided crucial evidence for the existence of gravitational waves, as the emitted gravitational radiation from the binary system led to a measurable decay in the system’s orbital period, consistent with predictions from Einstein's general theory of relativity.
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