Bengaluru: The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded with one half to James Peebles “for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology” and the other half jointly to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz “for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star”.
BREAKING NEWS:
The 2019 #NobelPrize in Physics has been awarded with one half to James Peebles “for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology” and the other half jointly to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz “for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star.” pic.twitter.com/BwwMTwtRFv— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 8, 2019
Peebles is affiliated with Princeton University in the US while Mayor and Queloz are with University of Geneva in Switzerland. Their findings and theories have together transformed our understanding of the universe and our own place within it.
Since the 1970s, Canadian-American Peebles has been one of the world’s leading theoretical cosmologists when he proposed theories to explain various phenomena such as dark matter, cosmic microwave background, and primordial nucleosynthesis.
He has helped our understanding of how elements evolved after the Big Bang and also predicted that the remnant radiation from the event would still be found in the universe as a weak signal. He has also authored numerous textbooks that are now authoritative references on the subjects of these study.
Does 2019 Physics Laureate James Peebles ever find the mysteries of the universe overwhelming? "Oh no!" he tells us, "Wonderful? Yes! Fascinating? Yes! Eager to know more? Absolutely!”
Peebles spoke to us after the news broke of his #NobelPrize – listen:https://t.co/EEfH3FWhDT
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 8, 2019
Mayor and Queloz
In 1995, Mayor and Queloz discovered the first planet outside our solar system, an exoplanet, orbiting a sun-type star, 51 Pegasi. It was 50 light years from Earth and took four days to complete its orbit. The planet was almost as big as the size of Jupiter with average surface temperatures of over 1,000°C.
The discovery of such a planet orbiting so close to its host star went against the existing theories of how planets like Jupiter would form — far away from a star in a planetary system. Subsequent discoveries of other exoplanets revolutionalised our understanding of how planets evolved.
The discovery by 2019 #NobelPrize laureates Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz started a revolution in astronomy and over 4,000 exoplanets have since been found in the Milky Way. Strange new worlds are still being discovered, with an incredible wealth of sizes, forms and orbits. pic.twitter.com/nqhJcJGJTv
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 8, 2019
The researchers used a novel method then called the radial velocity method. They were able to observe wobbles in the orbit of the planet and the star, measuring the impact the planet’s gravity had on the star it orbited.
The discovery of exoplanets have transformed our understanding of the galaxy beyond our solar system, and helped us recognise mysteries in the structure and evolution of our own Milky Way.
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