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Herschel Medal

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Herschel Medal
Awarded for"investigations of outstanding merit in observational astrophysics"[1]
Reward(s)Medal
First awarded1974[2]
Last awarded2022
Currently held byCatherine Heymans
Websitehttp://www.ras.org.uk/awards-and-grants/awards/2272-herschel-medal Edit this on Wikidata

The Herschel Medal is awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) for "investigations of outstanding merit in observational astrophysics". It is awarded for a single piece of work so that younger scientists can be candidates for the award.[1] It is named after the RAS's first president, William Herschel.[3] The medal was first awarded in 1974. From 1974 to 2004 the Herschel Medal was only awarded every three years. From 2004 the frequency was shortened to two years and from 2012 it will be awarded annually. The medal has been shared twice, in 1977 and 1986. It has been awarded 23 times to a total of 25 people (23 men, two women), mostly from the UK.[2][4]

Medallists

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Source: Royal Astronomical Society

Photo Year Medalist(s) Field References
1974 John Paul Wild Radio astronomy [2]
1977 Arno Penzias
Robert Woodrow Wilson		 Discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation [2]
1980 Gérard de Vaucouleurs Galaxy classification and cataloging [2][5]
1983 William W. Morgan Stellar classification [2][6]
1986 Albert Boggess
Robert Wilson		 Ultraviolet astronomy [2]
1989 Jocelyn Bell Burnell Pulsars [2]
1992 Andrew Lyne Radio astronomy [2]
1995 George Isaak Helioseismology [2]
1998 Gerry Neugebauer Infrared astronomy [2]
2001 Patrick Thaddeus Structure and distribution of molecular clouds [2]
2004 Keith Horne Cataclysmic variable stars and exoplanets [2][7]
2006 Govind Swarup Radio astronomy [2][8]
2008 Max Pettini Extragalactic cosmology [2][3]
2010 James H. Hough Polarimetry [2][9]
2012 Mike Irwin Digital optical and infrared surveys [2][10]
2013 Michael Kramer Pulsars [2][11]
2014 Reinhard Genzel Galactic and Extragalactic astronomy [2][12]
2015 Stephen Eales Submillimetre astronomy [4][13]
2016 James Dunlop Galaxy formation [14]
2017 Simon Lilly Galaxy evolution [2]
2018 Tom Marsh Doppler Tomography [15]
2019 Nial Tanvir Studies of the Explosive Universe
2020 Rob Fender Black hole accretion
2021 Stephen Smartt Awarded for his "time-domain studies of transient phenomena, leading ground-breaking progress in our understanding of core collapse supernova and of gravitational wave kilonovae." [16]
2022 Catherine Heymans Weak Gravitational Lensing, and measurement of fundamental cosmological parameters. [17]
2023 [needs update]
2024 Roberta Humphreys Stellar astrophysics [18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Awards, Medals and Prizes - Herschel Medal". RAS. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Herschel Medal Winners" (PDF). RAS. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Leading astronomers and geophysicists honoured with RAS medals and prizes". RAS. 8 January 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Winners of the 2015 awards, medals and prizes - full details". RAS. 9 January 2015. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  5. ^ "1980 Jan 13 meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society". The Observatory. 100: 53. 1980. Bibcode:1980Obs...100...53.
  6. ^ "1983 May 13 meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society". The Observatory. 103: 225. 1983. Bibcode:1983Obs...103..225.
  7. ^ "Royal Astronomical Society announces 2004 medals and awards". RAS. 2 March 2005. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  8. ^ "Citation for Professor Govind Swarup for The Herschel Medal" (PDF). RAS. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  9. ^ "RAS Honours Outstanding Astronomers and Geophysicists". RAS. 22 March 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  10. ^ "RAS honours leading astronomers and geophysicists". RAS. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  11. ^ "Winners of the 2013 awards, medals and prizes - full details". RAS. 10 January 2013. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  12. ^ "Winners of the 2014 awards, medals and prizes - full details". RAS. 10 January 2014. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  13. ^ "Cardiff University astronomers honoured for helping to improve our understanding of the universe". Wales Online. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  14. ^ "RAS honours leading astronomers and geophysicist". RAS. 8 January 2015. Archived from the original on 20 July 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  15. ^ "RAS medals and awards honour leading astronomers and geophysicists". Archived from the original on 2018-01-14. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  16. ^ https://ras.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2021-01/Smartt_Stephen_Herschel.pdf Herschel Medal - Professor Stephen J. Smartt (Short citation), date: 06/01/2021, viewed on 31st October 2021.
  17. ^ https://ras.ac.uk/sites/default/files/RAS%20Herschel%20Medal%202022%20-%20Professor%20Catherine%20Heymans.pdf Herschel Medal - Professor Catherine Heymans (Short citation), date: 06/01/2022.
  18. ^ Tonkin, Sam (12 January 2024). "Royal Astronomical Society unveils 2024 award winners" (Press release). Royal Astronomical Society. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
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