A Canadian-American cosmologist and two Swiss scientists won this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for exploring the evolution of the universe and discovering a new kind of planet.
Canadian-born James Peebles, 84, an emeritus professor at Princeton University, won for his theoretical discoveries in cosmology. Swiss star-gazers Michel Mayor, 77, and Didier Queloz, 53, both of the University of Geneva, were honored for finding an exoplanet – planet outside our solar system – “that orbits a sun-like star.”
“This year’s Nobel laureates in physics have painted a picture of the universe far stronger and more wonderful than we ever could have imagined. Our view of our place in the universe will never be the same again,” said Ulf Danielsson of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which selected the laureates.
Peebles, hailed as one of the most influential cosmologists of his time who realized the importance of the cosmic radiation background born of the Big Bang, will collect one half of the 9-million kronor ($918,000) cash award. Mayor, who is an astrophysicist, and Queloz, an astronomer who is also at the University of Cambridge in Britain, will share the other half.
The Nobel committee said Peebles’ theoretical framework about the cosmos – and its billions of galaxies and galaxy clusters – amounted to “the foundation of our modern understanding of the universe’s history, from the Big Bang to the present day.”(Punch)