Gold Medal from the Royal Astronomical Society

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Royal Astronomical Society gold medal for Asaph Hall, 1879

The Royal Astronomical Society Gold Medal is the highest scientific award awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society .

The medal was first awarded in 1824. After being awarded several times in the first few years, it was only awarded once a year from 1833 onwards. In 1846, the discovery of Neptune created a problem, as both John Couch Adams and Urbain Le Verrier were often considered worthy of prizes. The emerging controversy was finally resolved in 1848 by awarding "Medals of Recognition" to twelve award winners, including Adams and Le Verrier. From 1849 onwards, there was no more than one price per year. Adams and Le Verrier finally received their gold medals in 1866 and 1868.

Since 1964 two gold medals have been awarded, one ('A') for astronomy , cosmology , astroparticle physics , cosmophysics and related fields, the other ('G') for geophysics , solar physics , solar-terrestrial relations and planetary research.

The image of the medal shows an image of Wilhelm Herschel's 40-foot reflector telescope from the company's coat of arms and its Latin motto QUICQUID NITET NOTANDUM (something like “Whatever seems, may be recorded”).

Award winners

Silver medals

Silver medals were also awarded on two occasions. However, this was not continued.

Acknowledgment medals from 1848

Web links

  1. Leading astronomers and geophysicists honored in RAS bicentenary year. In: ras.ac.uk. Royal Astronomical Society, January 10, 2020, accessed January 11, 2020 .