The Nobel Prize in Physics recognises black holes twice over
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded half of the prize to Roger Penrose for showing that black hole formation is a robust prediction of general relativity, and the other half jointly to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of the Milky Way. The division is itself the structure of the subject: one half for the theory that said such things must exist, one half for the decades of measurement that found one.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- Roger Penrose · person · United Kingdom · not located
- Sagittarius A* - the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way · celestial body · Galactic centre, constellation Sagittarius as seen from Earth · not located
- The singularity · concept · not located
- S2 - the star that measured the Galactic centre · celestial body · Galactic centre, constellation Sagittarius as seen from Earth · not located
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2020
Awards one half to Roger Penrose for showing black hole formation is a robust prediction of general relativity, and one half jointly to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the Galactic centre. V55 VERIFICATION BASIS: not consulted in session; WebFetch to www.nobelprize.org was refused by the egress proxy. The award division and date are from recall and must be checked.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences · 2020-10-06 · Partly verified
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Nobel Prize in Physics 2020 announcement and scientific background
Recorded on Roger Penrose
- Oppenheimer and Snyder compute continued gravitational contraction
- Penrose proves that collapse to a singularity is generic
- A star is tracked through a complete close approach to the Galactic centre
- The Event Horizon Telescope observes M87* and Sagittarius A*
- S2 passes pericentre and its light is measurably redshifted
- The orbit of S2 is shown to precess as general relativity predicts
- The Nobel Prize in Physics recognises black holes twice over
- The black hole at the centre of our own galaxy is imaged
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- The black hole at the centre of our own galaxy is imaged · 2022-05-12
- The orbit of S2 is shown to precess as general relativity predicts · 2020
- S2 passes pericentre and its light is measurably redshifted · 2018-05
- The Event Horizon Telescope observes M87* and Sagittarius A* · 2017-04
- A star is tracked through a complete close approach to the Galactic centre · 2002
- Penrose proves that collapse to a singularity is generic · 1965
- Oppenheimer and Snyder compute continued gravitational contraction · 1939