Three scientists share Nobel physics prize for cosmology finds

British scientist Roger Penrose among three winners of Nobel physics prize for cosmology for their discoveries related to black holes

  • Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez share the Nobel for physics
  • Professor Penrose, from the University of Oxford, won it for work on black holes 
  • Professors Ghez and Genzel shared it for their collaboration which found a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy 

Pictured, Professor Roger Penrose from the University of Oxford 

The 2020 Nobel Prize for physics has been awarded to Roger Penrose for black hole discovery and Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez for discovering ‘a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy.’

It is common for several scientists who worked in related fields to share the prize. 

Professor Penrose, from the University of Oxford, was awarded the prestigious prize ‘for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity’ in 2020.

Professor Genzel, from Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany, won the award alongside Professor Ghez from UCLA ‘for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy’.

The 2020 Nobel Prize for physics has been awarded to Roger Penrose for black hole discovery and Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez for discovering 'a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy'

The 2020 Nobel Prize for physics has been awarded to Roger Penrose for black hole discovery and Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez for discovering ‘a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy’

Last year’s prize went to Canadian-born cosmologist James Peebles for theoretical work about the early moments after the Big Bang, and Swiss astronomers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz for discovering a planet outside our solar system.

The prestigious award comes with a gold medal and prize money of 10 million Swedish kronor (more than $1.1 million), courtesy of a bequest left 124 years ago by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel. The amount was increased recently to adjust for inflation.

On Monday, the Nobel Committee awarded the prize for physiology and medicine to Americans Harvey J. Alter and Charles M. Rice and British-born scientist Michael Houghton for discovering the liver-ravaging hepatitis C virus.

The other prizes are for outstanding work in the fields of chemistry, literature, peace and economics.

More to follow… 

The Nobels, with new winners announced this week, often concentrate on unheralded, methodical, basic science

The Nobels, with new winners announced this week, often concentrate on unheralded, methodical, basic science