HEAD AAS Rossi Prize Winners
Rossi Prize Citations
The 1985 Rossi Prize was awarded to Dr. William R. Forman
and Dr. Christine Jones for pioneering work in the study of X-ray
emission from early type galaxies. The prize consists of a certificate
and $500. Drs. Jones and Forman gave a joint invited talk at the
Charlottesville Meeting of the AAS. As the nomination letter states,
Their recent work on hot coronae around early-type
galaxies represents a very significant contribution to high energy
astrophysics. To quote: "Forman and Jones have found that extended
X-ray emission is a common feature of early-type galaxies in a variety
of environments including cluster outskirts, small groups, and the
field. Their very thorough observations and analysis show that gaseous
coronae are an ubiquitous feature of bright early-type galaxies, that
the coronae have soft X-ray luminosity's ranging from 1039
to 1042 erg s-1, that many of the coronae are
resolved with angular extents ~>100 kpc, and that the X-ray emission
is almost certainly thermal with a typical temperature of ~107
K."
HEAD has named astrophysicist Dr. Allan S. (Bud) Jacobson of
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory the winner of the 1986 Rossi Prize. The
prize was awarded for pioneering work on high-resolution gamma-ray
spectroscopy, a new branch of astronomy in which discrete spectral
lines resulting from nuclear transitions are observed. Bud made a
presentation of his work at the June meeting of the American
Astronomical Society in Ames, Iowa.
Dr. Jacobson led the group at JPL that carried out the first
high resolution all-sky survey of gamma-ray sources with a germanium
spectrometer flown on HEAO-3 in 1979-1980. These observations resulted
in the discovery of diffuse emission from the galactic plane in a very
narrow gamma-ray line at 1.809 MeV resulting from the decay of
radioactive 26Al. This nucleus is most likely produced in explosive
nucleosynthesis in novae and supernovae or by expulsion from massive
stars. The discovery of 26Al was the first direct evidence that
elements of intermediate weight are presently being produced in our
galaxy and provides for a determination of the present rate of
nucleosynthesis on a galactic scale. The HEAO-3 observations of the
1.809 MeV line were confirmed by independent observations with a
spectrometer on the Solar Maximum Mission.
Observations were also made in narrow band 0.511 MeV gamma
ray emission, confirming earlier observations of the 0.511 meV line
from the direction of galactic center. Both the line and the underlying
continuum were shown to be time variable, thereby constraining the
source to be a compact object.
One of the letters of nomination says of Jacobson's
findings: "I believe these discoveries are all path finding in nature
and will have lasting influence on the direction of both experimental
and theoretical research in high energy astrophysics."
The 1987 Rossi Prize was presented to Michiel van der Klis
at the Vancouver meeting of the AAS in June 1988. The prize was awarded
to Michiel for high discovery of quasi-periodic oscillations in the
X-ray flux from GX5-1. This object is a low-mass accretion-powered
X-ray binary, and the results have led to the discovery of numerous
other QPO and have stimulated much work to derive the rotation periods
of the neutron stars in these systems.
The prize was presented by HEAD Chair David Helfand, and was
followed by a talk given by Dr. van der Klis concerning his work.
The recipient is Dr. Rashid A. Sunyaev of the Institute for
Cosmic Research in Moscow. The award was made to recognize his
contributions to understanding cosmic X-ray sources, especially the
structure of accretion disks around black holes, the X-ray spectra of
compact objects, and the Mir- based discovery of hard X-ray emission
from supernovae 1987A. Dr. Sunyaev was invited to deliver a lecture
describing his work at the January 1989 meeting in Boston.
The 1989 Rossi Prize has been awarded jointly to the members
of the Kamiokande and IMB high-energy neutrino experiment teams. The
Prize was awarded for the dramatic and mutually confirming detections
by these two experiments of a burst of neutrinos from SN1987A.
The observations of neutrinos from SN1987A by the IMB and
Kamioka teams opened a new window on the cosmos beyond the solar system
and provided the first direct data on the high-energy processes that
occur in the centers of collapsing stars. The numbers and energies of
the neutrinos observed in the burst and its duration confirmed the main
outlines of the theory of stellar collapse and supernovae that has been
developed over the past two decades. The measurements by the IMB and
Kamioka teams have also provided a new constraint on the mass and other
properties of the electron neutrino.
The 1989 Rossi Prize was awarded at a special plenary
session during the June meeting of the American Astronomical Society in
Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Prize was accepted on behalf of the entire
Kamiokande team by Y. Totsuka, of the Institute of Cosmic Ray Research
at the University of Tokyo. F. Reines, of the University of California
at Irvine, will accept the Prize on behalf of the entire IMB team.
These two team spokesmen were invited to describe the history as well
as the results of their team's experiments at the plenary session.
The prize-winning members of the Kamiokande team and their
institutional affiliations were:
- K.S. Hirata, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research,
University of Tokyo
- T. Kajita, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University
of Tokyo
- M. Koshiba, Tokai University
- M. Nakahata, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research,
University of Tokyo
- Y. Oyama, National Laboratory for High Energy Physics
- N. Sato, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of
Tokyo
- A. Suzuki, National Laboratory for High Energy Physics
- M. Takita, Osaka University
- Y. Totsuka, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University
of Tokyo
- T. Kifune, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University
of Tokyo
- T. Suda, Kobe University
- K. Takahashi, National Laboratory for High Energy Physics
- T. Tanimori,National Laboratory for High Energy Physics
- K. Miyano, Niigata University
- M. Yamada, Niigata University
- E.W. Beier, University of Pennsylvania
- L.R. Feldscher, University of Pennsylvania
- S.B. Kim, University of Pennsylvania
- A.K. Mann, University of Pennsylvania
- F.M. Newcomer, University of Pennsylvania
- R. van Berg, University of Pennsylvania
- W. Zhang, University of Pennsylvania
- B.G. Cortez, AT&T Bell Laboratories
The prize-winning members of the IMB team and their
institutional affiliations were:
- Richard M. Bionta, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Geoffrey Blewitt, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California
Institute of Technology
- Clyde B. Bratton, Cleveland State University
- David W. Casper, University of Michigan and Boston
University
- Alessandra Ciocio, Boston University
- Richard Claus, Boston University
- Bruce Cortez, AT&T Bell Laboratories
- Marshall Crouch, Case Western Reserve University
- Stephen T. Dye, University of Hawaii and Boston
University
- Steven M. Errede, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign
- G. William Foster, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
- Wojciech Gajewski, University of California at Irvine
- Kenneth S. Ganezer, University of California at Irvine
- Maurice Goldhaber, Brookhaven National Laboratory
- Todd J. Haines, University of Maryland
- Tegid W. Jones, University College London
- Danuta Kielczewska, University of California at Irvine
and Warsaw University
- William R. Kropp, University of California at Irvine
- John G. Learned, University of California at Irvine
- John M. LoSecco, University of Notre Dame
- James M. Matthews, University of Michigan
- Richard Miller, University of California at Irvine
- Manjeet S. Mudan, University College London
- Hye-Sook Park, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- LeRoy Price, University of California at Irvine
- Frederick Reines, University of California at Irvine
- Jonas Schultz, University of California at Irvine
- Sally C. Seidel, University of Michigan
- Eric L. Shumard, AT&T Bell Laboratories
- Daniel A. Sinclair, University of Michigan
- Henry W. Sobel, University of California at Irvine
- James L. Stone, Boston University
- Lawrence R. Sulak, Boston University
- Robert R. Svoboda, University of California at Irvine
- Gregory J. Thornton, University of Michigan
- John C. van der Velde, University of Michigan
- Craig R. Wuest, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The High Energy Astrophysics Division of the American
Astronomical Society hereby awards the Bruno Rossi Prize for 1990 to
Stirling A. Colgate in recognition of his seminal role in predicting
the generation of neutrinos in core collapse and elucidating the
importance of the neutrinos for the dynamics and diagnostics of
supernova explosions.
The 1991 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Division of the
American Astronomical Society is awarded to Prof. John A. Simpson for
his seminal contributions to the understanding of cosmic rays, comets,
and solar activity, with particular note of his pioneering development
of neutron detectors.
The 1992 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Division of the
American Astronomical Society is awarded to Dr. Gerald H. Share for his
ingenuity and leadership in using the Gamma-Ray Spectrometer on SMM to
study the origin of gamma radiation from supernovae, the Galaxy, solar
flares, and gamma-ray bursts.
The 1993 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Division of the
American Astronomical Society is awarded to Drs. Jules Halpern and
Giovanni Bignami for their outstanding contributions toward resolving
the mystery of Geminga.
The 1994 Rossi Prize winner is Dr. Gerald Fishman "for his
signal contributions to the Burst and Transient Source Experiment
aboard the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (BATSE) and the continuing
puzzle of the Gamma-ray Bursts."
The 1995 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Division of the
American Astronomical Society is awarded to Dr. Carl E. Fichtel, for
his key role in the development of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
mission, for his leadership of the EGRET instrument team, and for the
discovery by EGRET of the new class of 'Gamma-ray Blazars'.
The 1996 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Division of the
American Astronomical Society is awarded to Felix Mirabel and Luis F.
Rodriguez for the seminal discovery of double-sided radio jets from the
galactic sources 1E1740.7-2942 and GRS 1758-258 and superluminal motion
of radio knots in the galactic source GRS 1915+105.
The 1997 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Division of the
American Astronomical Society is awarded to Trevor C. Weekes for his
key role in the development of very high energy gamma-ray astronomy and
the discovery of TeV gamma radiation from the Crab nebula and Mrk 421.
The 1998 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Astrophysics
Division of the American Astronomical Society is awarded to the
BeppoSAX Team (represented by Livio Scarsi) and Dr. Jan van Paradijs
for the discovery of the X-ray and optical afterglow of gamma-ray
bursts, making possible the solution to the 30 year old problem of
fixing the distances to the gamma-ray burst sources.
The prize-winning members of the BeppoSAX team and their
institutional affiliations were:
- Livio Scarsi IFCAI/CNR, Palermo and DEAF Univ. of Palermo
- L.Angelo Antonelli Oss. Astronomico Roma
- Johan Bleeker SRON, Utrecht
- Giuliano Boella Physics Dept., Univ.of Milano
- Bert Brinkman SRON, Utrecht
- Cristopher R. Butler ASI, Roma
- Oberto Citterio Oss. Astronomico Brera/Merate
- Alessandro Coletta BeppoSAX SOC, Roma
- Giancarlo Conti IFCTR / CNR, Milano
- Enrico Costa IAS / CNR, Roma
- Daniele Dal Fiume ITESRE/CNR, Bologna
- Guido Di Cocco ITESRE/CNR, Bologna
- Marco Feroci IAS / CNR, Roma
- Fabrizio Fiore Oss. Astronomico Roma
- Filippo Frontera ITESRE/CNR, Bologna and Phys. Dept.
Univ. Ferrara
- Paolo Giommi ASI, Roma
- John Heise SRON, Utrecht
- Jean in`t Zand SRON, Utrecht
- Rieks Jager SRON, Utrecht
- Johan Muller BeppoSAXœ SDC, Roma
- Luciano Nicastro IFCAI / CNR, Palermo
- Eliana Palazzi ITESRE / CNR, Bologna
- Arvind Parmar SSD / ESA Noordwijk
- G.Cesare Perola Physics Dept., Univ. of Roma 3
- Luigi Piro IAS / CNR, Roma
- Bruno Sacco IFCAI /CNR, Palermo
- Paolo Soffitta IAS / CNR, Roma
- Brian G. Taylor SSD / ESA, Noordwijk
The 1999 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Astrophysics
Division of the American Astronomical Society is awarded to Drs. Jean
Swank and Hale Bradt for their key roles in the development of the
Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer, and for the resulting important
discoveries related to high time resolution observations of compact
astrophysical objects.
The 2000 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Astrophysics
Division of the American Astronomical Society is awarded to Peter
Meszaros, Bohdan Paczynski, and Martin Rees for the development of
theoretical models of Gamma Ray Bursters and their afterglows.
The 2001 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Astrophysics
Division of the American Astronomical Society is awarded to Andrew
Fabian and Yasuo Tanaka for their discovery, with the ASCA satellite,
of broad iron K-lines in active galactic nuclei, which demonstrate the
effects of the strong gravitational field characteristic of black
holes. press release
The 2002 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Astrophysics
Division of the American Astronomical Society is awarded to Leon Van
Speybroeck for his singular contribution to high energy astrophysics
leading to the exquisite image quality produced by the X-ray optics and
telescope of the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
The 2003 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Astrophysics
Division of the American Astronomical Society is awarded to Robert
Duncan and Christopher Thompson for their prediction, and to Chryssa
Kouveliotou for her observational confirmation, of the existence of
magnetars: neutron stars with extraordinarily strong magnetic fields.
The 2004 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Astrophysics
Division of the American Astronomical Society is awarded to Harvey
Tananbaum and Martin Weisskopf for their vision, dedication, and
leadership in the development, testing, and operation of the Chandra
X-ray Observatory.
The 2005 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Astrophysics
Division of the American Astronomical Society is awarded to Stan
Woosley for his contributions to the theory of nucleosynthesis,
supernova mechanisms and, in particular, the collapsar model of long
gamma-ray bursts.
The 2006 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Astrophysics
Division of the American Astronomical Society is awarded to Tod
Strohmayer, Deepto Chakrabarty, and Rudy Wijnands for their pioneering
research which revealed millisecond spin periods and established the
powerful diagnostic tool of kilohertz intensity oscillations in
accreting neutron star binary systems
The 2007 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Astrophysics
Division of the American Astronomical Society is awarded to Neil Gehrels
and the Swift Team for major advances in the scientific understanding
of gamma-ray bursts. These include groundbreaking observations to determine precise
location of short gamma-ray bursts, and the discovery of enormously
bright X-ray flares in the early afterglows.
The 2008 Rossi Prize of the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the
American Astronomical Society is awarded to Pat Henry, Alexey
Vikhlinin, Steve Allen, Maxim Markevitch for their pioneering
work on the use of X-ray observations of clusters of galaxies as
cosmological probes.
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