Groundbreaking space discovery wins Nobel for Physics
"This year's laureates have contributed to answering fundamental questions about our existence," Goran Hansson, Secretary-General of The Academy
Three scientists won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for their contributions in cosmology. The prize is to be shared between James Peebles, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz for their understanding how the universe has evolved, and earth's place in it.
The trio received the award for their "new understanding of the universe's structure and history," said the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm on Tuesday.
One half of the prize was awarded to James Peebles for "theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology". The other half was jointly given to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz for "the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star", said Goran Hansson, secretary-general of the Academy.
"This year's laureates have contributed to answering fundamental questions about our existence," Hansson added.
The prize comes with a 9-million kronor ($918,000) cash award to be shared a gold medal and a diploma. The laureates receive them at an elegant ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of prize founder Alfred Nobel in 1896, together with five other Nobel winners. The sixth one, the peace prize, is handed out in Oslo, Norway on the same day.
This was the 113th Nobel Prize in Physics awarded since 1901, of which 47 awards have been given to a single laureate. Only three women have been awarded it so far: Marie Curie in 1903, Maria Goeppert-Mayer in 1963 and Donna Strickland in 2018, according to the Nobel website.
New perspectives in cosmology
This year's Nobel Prize in Physics rewards new understanding of the universe's structure and history, and the first discovery of a planet orbiting a solar-type star outside our solar system.
James Peebles is a Canadian-American physicist and theoretical cosmologist who is currently the Albert Einstein Professor Emeritus of Science at Princeton University. His insights into physical cosmology have enriched the entire field of research and laid a foundation for the transformation of cosmology over the last fifty years, from speculation to science. He is most remarkable for his theoretical framework which has been developed since the mid-1960's and has shaped the basis of our contemporary ideas about the universe. The scientist made major contributions towards the Big Bang nucleosynthesis, dark matter, and dark energy.
Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz have been successful in the exciting search of exoplanets. In October 1995 they announced the first discovery of a planet outside our solar system, an exoplanet, orbiting a solar-type star in our home galaxy, the Milky Way. This discovery started a revolution in astronomy and over 4,000 exoplanets have so far been found in the Milky Way.
James Peebles, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics.
