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Penrose proved by brilliant mathematical methods that black holes are a direct consequence of Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. E. Einstein himself did not believe that black holes were such massive objects that when they enter their field of attraction nothing can escape, not even light.
In 1965, a decade after Einstein’s death, Penrose showed that black holes could form and described them in detail. Basically, black holes hide the singularity, a point, where all known laws of nature no longer apply. The classic article describing the work of R. Penrose is still considered one of the most important contributions to the General Theory of Relativity after the works of A. Einstein himself.
Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez separately led groups of astronomers who, since the early 1990s, have focused all their attention on a region of the galaxy called Sagittarius A * and located in the very center of our galaxy.
These two scientists have determined with great precision the orbit of the closest and brightest stars to the center of the galaxy. Measurements by both groups led to similar conclusions: somewhere there must be an extremely massive invisible object that attracts stars and spins them at incredible speed. The region, which is not much larger than the solar system, should have a mass of about a million suns.
Using the most powerful telescopes in the world, Genzel and Ghez developed methods that allowed us to look through huge clouds of interstellar gas and dust to the center of the Milky Way. Expanding the possibilities of the technology, they have developed new methods that have compensated for the resulting image distortions caused by Earth’s atmosphere and have developed unique instruments and dedicated their lives to long-term space observations. Their groundbreaking work has given us the most compelling evidence that a supermassive black hole is at the center of the Milky Way.
Ghez is only the fourth woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics since 1901, when the first Nobel Prizes were awarded.
In April 2019, astronomers demonstrated the first photo of a black hole.
R. Genzel collaborates with the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching near Munich, as well as with the University of California.
A. Ghez is a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California.
The prestigious award consists of a gold medal and 10 million. Swedish crowns (959 thousand euros).
Last year, half of the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to American and Canadian physicist Phillip James Edwin Peebles, and the other half to Swiss astrophysicist Michel Mayor and Swiss astronomer Didier Queloz.
These three cosmologists were honored for their contribution to explaining the evolution of the Universe.
In a normal year, the laureates would withdraw their award from King Carl XVI Gustaf at an official ceremony in Stockholm on December 10 to mark the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. Inventor A. Nobel, who died in 1896, established these awards in his will.
This year, however, that service ceremony was canceled due to a coronavirus pandemic. Instead, there will be a television ceremony showing how the awards will be presented to the winners in their countries.
The Nobel Prize season began on Monday with the presentation of the Medical Prize. It was destined for the Americans Harvey J. Alter and Charles M. Rice, as well as the British Michael Houghton.
These virologists were generally honored “for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus.
It will be announced on Wednesday who will receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
The winners of the most outstanding Literature and Peace Awards will be announced on Thursday and Friday and the season will end next Monday with the announcement of the winner of the Economics Award.
It is speculated that the Nobel Peace Prize could be awarded to Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg and other climate activists or press freedom groups.
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