Joseph H. Taylor, Jr. | American Astronomer, Binary Pulsar Discovery

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class="md-content"> <div class="md-article-container template-desktop"> <div class="infinite-scroll-container article last"> <article class="article-content container-lg qa-content px-0 pt-0 pb-40 py-lg-20 content " data-topic-id="584854"> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col-auto"> <div class="topic-left-rail md-article-drawer position-relative d-flex border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-H-Taylor-Jr">Joseph H. Taylor, Jr.</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <span class="toc-extra-link selected link-gray-900 mt-15"> Introduction </span> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-H-Taylor-Jr/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/Joseph-H-Taylor-Jr">Quick Facts & Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="mb-30 tlr-related-quizzes"> <div class="text-gray-900 p-5 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-10 mb-10"> Quizzes </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/quiz/faces-of-science"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/88/144788-131-ADACA20E/Michael-Faraday-John-Frederic-Daniell.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Michael Faraday (L) English physicist and chemist (electromagnetism) and John Frederic Daniell (R) British chemist and meteorologist who invented the Daniell cell." width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/quiz/faces-of-science" >Faces of Science</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/quiz/physics-and-natural-law"> <img loading="lazy" 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Taylor, Jr.</h1></div> </div> <div class="topic-identifier font-16 font-md-20">American astronomer</div> </div> </div> <div class="d-none d-sm-flex flex-row"> <div class="mr-10 mb-15"> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="d-none d-sm-block md-topic-tools qa-action-buttons mb-15" data-topic-id="584854"> <button class="js-tooltip btn btn-sm btn-outline-blue border pr-10 border-2" > <em class="material-icons md-icon ml-n10 my-n5 mr-5" data-icon="more_vert"></em> More Actions </button> <div class="md-more-popover popover popover-sm p-0 font-14 z-1"> <div> <a class="js-modal btn btn-sm btn-link gtm-topic-tool font-weight-bold btn-link" href="/print/article/584854" target="_blank" > <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="print"></em> Print </a> </div> <div> <button class="js-modal qa-cite-modal-button btn btn-sm btn-link gtm-topic-tool font-weight-bold btn-link" data-modal="[data-topic-id=584854] .md-cite-modal"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="verified"></em> Cite </button> <div class="md-cite-modal size-lg d-none"> <div class="md-modal-body"> <div class="h2 font-serif d-flex align-items-center pb-15 border-bottom mb-15"> <em class="material-icons text-blue mr-10">verified</em>Cite </div> <div class="font-serif"> While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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Taylor Jr.</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="md-websites-ebk-title">Britannica Websites</div> <div class="md-websites-ebk-subtitle">Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.</div> <ul class="list-unstyled bps-topic-web-sites lh-lg"> <li><a class="external" href="https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Joseph-Hooton-Taylor-Jr/313788" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr. - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="toc-header-marker"></div> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 js-header-ai-ask-button d-none btn-sm btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 mr-0 mr-lg-10 ml-5 ml-sm-10 ml-lg-0 p-10"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> <div class="caption alternate-titles">Also known as: Joseph Hooton Taylor</div> <div class="md-byline module-spacing "> <div class="font-serif font-12"> <span class="written-by text-gray-700"> Written and fact-checked by </span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. 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Taylor, Jr.</strong> (born March 24, 1941, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Philadelphia" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Philadelphia</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Pennsylvania-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Pennsylvania</a>, U.S.) is an American radio astronomer and physicist who, with <span id="ref275014"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Russell-Alan-Hulse" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Russell A. Hulse</a>, was the corecipient of the 1993 <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nobel-Prize" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Nobel Prize</a> for Physics for their joint discovery of the first <span id="ref275015"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/binary-pulsar" class="md-crosslink ">binary pulsar</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Taylor studied at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Haverford-College" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Haverford College</a>, Pennsylvania (B.A., 1963), and earned a Ph.D. in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/astronomy" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">astronomy</a> at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Harvard-University" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Harvard University</a> in 1968. He taught at the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/University-of-Massachusetts" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">University of Massachusetts</a>, Amherst, from 1969 to 1981 and then joined the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="faculty" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/faculty" data-type="EB">faculty</a> at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Princeton-University" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Princeton University</a>, where he became the James S. McDonnell Professor of Physics in 1986 and professor emeritus in 2006.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Taylor and Hulse conducted their prizewinning research on pulsars while Taylor was a professor at Amherst and Hulse was his graduate student. In 1974, using the large <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/radio-telescope" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">radio telescope</a> at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Arecibo-Observatory" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Arecibo</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Puerto-Rico" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Puerto Rico</a>, they discovered a pulsar (a rapidly spinning neutron <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/star-astronomy" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">star</a>) emitting radio pulses at intervals that varied in a regular pattern, decreasing and increasing over an eight-hour period. They concluded from these signals that the pulsar must be alternately moving toward and away from the Earth—i.e., that it must be orbiting around a companion star, which the two men <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="deduced" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/deduced" data-type="EB">deduced</a> was also a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/neutron-star" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">neutron star</a>.</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-quiz-module" href="/quiz/faces-of-science" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/88/144788-131-ADACA20E/Michael-Faraday-John-Frederic-Daniell.jpg" alt="Michael Faraday (L) English physicist and chemist (electromagnetism) and John Frederic Daniell (R) British chemist and meteorologist who invented the Daniell cell." class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-green">Britannica Quiz</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">Faces of Science</div> </div> </a><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Their discovery of the first binary pulsar, <span id="ref275016"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/PSR-1913-16" class="md-crosslink ">PSR 1913 + 16</a>, provided an unprecedented test of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Albert-Einstein" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Albert Einstein’s</a> theory of <span id="ref275017"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/gravity-physics" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">gravitation</a>, which, according to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/general-relativity" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">general theory of relativity</a>, predicts that objects accelerated in a strong gravitational field will emit radiation in the form of gravitational waves. With its enormous interacting gravitational fields, the binary pulsar should emit such waves, and the resulting energy drain should reduce the orbital distance between the two stars. This could in turn be measured by a slight, gradual reduction in the timing of the pulsar’s distinctive radio emissions.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Taylor and Hulse timed PSR 1913 + 16’s pulses over the next few years and showed that the two stars are indeed rotating ever faster around each other in an increasingly tight orbit, with an annual decrease of about 75 millionths of a second in their eight-hour orbital period. The rate at which the two stars are spiraling closer together was found to agree with the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="prediction" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/prediction" data-type="EB">prediction</a> of the theory of general relativity to an accuracy of better than 0.5 percent. This finding, reported in 1978, provided the first experimental evidence for the existence of gravitational waves and gave powerful support to Einstein’s theory of gravity. In the following years, Taylor continued making careful measurements of the orbital period of PSR 1913 + 16, and his research group went on to discover several other binary pulsars.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In addition to the Nobel Prize, Taylor received the Wolf Prize in Physics (1992). He also was awarded a MacArthur fellowship (1981).</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/contributor/encyclopaedia-britannica/12989892">Encyclopaedia Britannica</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":584854,"pageLength":440,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"C","adLeg":"C","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"BIO_MEDIUM","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Joseph H. Taylor, Jr. | American Astronomer, Binary Pulsar Discovery | Britannica