TheFrontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences from the BBVA Foundationit has gone to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz. These two researchers discovered in 1995 a giant planet orbiting a star other than the Sun, which was a real revolution in astronomy.Today more than 500 exoplanets are known, but the pioneering and innovative character of these two Swiss has led them to obtain the prestigious award.
How did these two scientists see planets (small and dark) near large, bright stars? Thanks to the radial velocity. This technique relied on the Doppler effect to detect them indirectly. Basically the researchers measured the change in frequency of the waves of the star’s light caused by the gravitational pull of the planet and the star. The Doppler effect was proposed by the Austrian Christian Andreas Doppler in 1842, however, it was not until decades later that Mayor and Queloz applied it in order to discover exoplanets.
Thanks to this method, most of the cataloged exoplanets have been discovered and even now, “the first measurements of some of their atmospheres are being made,” the jury explained in its ruling.
The discovery of the first exoplanet, orbiting the star 51 Pegasi, was a milestone in astronomy in 1995. As Queloz pointed out when the award was announced, “I interpret it as a recognition of the work that Michel and I have been doing for almost 20 years, and that astrophysics has changed enormously”.
Reactions to the award
As explained by the researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia, Rafael Rodrigo , this Swiss couple “were the first to think about and develop the technique to detect extrasolar planets and today they are the absolute world leaders in the area”. In the same vein as Rodrigo, the director of the National Astronomical Observatory, Rafael Bachiller , pointed out that it seemed to him a “well deserved award” while praising the way of being of the winners: “both are very simple, honest people and friendly “, to finally cry out,” I hope that the Nobel does not take them long! “.
