Michel Mayor

Michel Mayor in front of the Paranal Observatory (2012).

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

Commons : Michel Mayor - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

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
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

[1] Mayor, Queloz: A Jupiter-mass companion to a solar-type star , Nature, Volume 378, 1995, pp. 355-359; doi : 10.1038 / 378355a0 (abstract)

[2] 2013 Predictions at Thomson Reuters (sciencewatch.com); Retrieved September 25, 2013.