Michel Mayor
Michel Gustave Édouard Mayor (born January 12, 1942 in Echallens , Canton of Vaud ) is a Swiss astronomer who works as a professor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Geneva . In 1995, together with Didier Queloz , he discovered the first extrasolar planet orbiting a sun-like star ( 51 Pegasi b ), for which both received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2019 .
Life
Michel Mayor studied physics at the University of Lausanne and received his PhD in astronomy at the Geneva Observatory in 1971 . With the exception of stays at the Cambridge Observatory , the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile and the Hawaii Observatory, he remained employed at this institution . From 1989 to 1992 he chaired the Scientific Advisory Board of ESO, from 1988 to 1991 the Commission on Galactic Structure at the International Astronomical Association and from 1990 to 1993 the Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy. He has been a professor at the University of Geneva since 1984 and an honorary professor there when he retired in 2007.
Act
Mayor developed the ELODIE (51pegb), CORALIE and HARPS spectrographs, with which more than 500 exoplanets have been discovered. Since the discovery of 51 Pegasi b , Michel Mayor and his research team have been involved in many other extrasolar planetary discoveries.
He is responsible for the discovery of the first extrasolar planet in orbit around a sun-like star, which is considered a milestone in the history of astronomy and was honored with a Nobel Prize. With the help of his doctoral Didier Queloz he could in 1995 by a high-resolution spectrograph one to 51 Pegasi rotating , Jupiter-like planets detected. The existence of this planet, 51 Pegasi b , was confirmed on October 12, 1995 by US scientists Geoffrey Marcy and R. Paul Butler .
By 2005 he had written more than 300 scientific publications. Since 2013 Thomson Reuters has counted him among the favorites for a Nobel Prize ( Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates ) due to the number of his citations . He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2019.
honors and awards
- 1998 Jules Janssen Prize
- 1998 Marcel Benoist Prize in recognition of his research achievements and their significance for human life.
- 2000 Balzan Prize for instruments and techniques in astronomy and astrophysics
- 2004 Albert Einstein Medal
- 2005 Shaw Prize together with the American Geoffrey Marcy
- 2008 Swiss Astronomy Award
- 2010 Karl Schwarzschild Medal of the Astronomical Society
- 2010 member of the National Academy of Sciences
- 2010 member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 2011 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award
- 2013 An asteroid was named after him: (125076) Michelmayor
- 2015 Gold Medal from the Royal Astronomical Society
- 2015 Kyoto Prize
- 2015 Tycho Brahe Prize
- 2017 Wolf Prize in Physics
- 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics
Web links
- Publications by M. Mayor in the Astrophysics Data System
- Awarded the Albert Einstein Medal to Michel Mayor on June 10, 2004
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mayor, Queloz: A Jupiter-mass companion to a solar-type star , Nature, Volume 378, 1995, pp. 355-359; doi : 10.1038 / 378355a0 (abstract)
- ↑ 2013 Predictions at Thomson Reuters (sciencewatch.com); Retrieved September 25, 2013.
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Mayor, Michel |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Mayor, Michel Gustave (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss astronomer and university professor |
DATE OF BIRTH | January 12, 1942 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Echallens , Canton of Vaud |