appendage of the Swedish Royal Society of Science have awarded the2019 Nobel Prize in Physicsfor contributions to our understanding of the evolution of the universe and Earth ’s place in the cosmos . The award is to be together with deal between Professor Jim Peebles for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmogeny , and Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz for the discovery of the first exoplanet orbiting a solar - eccentric superstar .
Peebles ' contribution to cosmogony are profound . He was among those that predicted the existence of the cosmic microwave oven setting and also form on other expression of the Big Bang Theory , like the formation of the first elements in the universe and dark matter .
The second one-half of the prize shifts our focal point from infer the fundamentals of the macrocosm to observing the objects within our own wandflower . On October 6 , 1995 , just over 24 years ago , swiss astronomers Mayor and Queloz announced the discovery of a planet around the star 51 Pegasi .
The uncovering was monolithic for several reasons . It was the first find of an exoplanet around a main - sequence star ; previous exoplanetary detection were around pulsars . It also went against the wisdom of the time on how planetary systems should behave .
major planet 51 Pegasi b has a mass of at least half of Jupiter but it orb its star just 7.88 million klick ( 4.9 million miles ) off . Astronomers did n’t think that gas monster could be found that close to their parent stars . Since then , among the 4,000 + ascertained exoplanets , we have found many model of these hot Jupiters revolve very close to their stars .
This twelvemonth ’s Physics Prize recognizes both aspects of theory and observation in science . As Professor Peebles order in thepress conferenceannouncing the Prize : “ hypothesis is empty without observations . We depend on the interaction between the theory and notice . ”
present that today isAda Lovelace Day , it would be remiss not to note thatsome of the barriersthat have kept women and underrepresented groups from attaining long career and accolade in scientific fields still exist in some places , and this will be shine in awards marking sprightliness - farseeing contributions to a field .
Only three women have won the Nobel Prize in Physics : Marie Curie , Maria Goeppert - Mayer , and , last yearDonna Strickland , have in mind there are still fewer woman than men named James that have won the award .
