Russell Hulse

In 1974, Russell Hulse discovered the first binary pulsar, a system of two stars orbiting each other where one is a rapidly spinning pulsar. He made this monumental discovery alongside his advisor Joseph Taylor while working at the Arecibo Observatory.

Hulse and Taylor were awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of the binary pulsar. The system they found provided the first indirect proof of the existence of gravitational waves, exactly as predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.

By tracking the orbital period of the binary pulsar over several years, Taylor and his colleagues noticed the two stars were slowly spiraling closer together. This loss of energy perfectly matched Einstein's equations for the radiation of gravitational waves.

After his Nobel-winning discovery, Hulse largely left active physics research to focus on science education. He currently works at the University of Texas at Dallas, where he helps promote math and science education for young students.