James Peebles, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz received the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for developing a new theoretical approach to understanding the Universe and for discovering a new exoplanet.
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded one half to James Peebles for his "theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology" and the other half was shared between Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz for their "discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star". The three were honoured with this recognition for "their contributions to our understanding of the evolution of the Universe and Earth's place in the cosmos".
James Peebles was born in 1935 in Winnipeg, Canada, and is a professor at Princeton University. Immediately after being awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics, he declared that young people approaching science "should do so for the love of it".
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Michel Mayor was born in 1942 in Lausanne, Switzerland, and is a professor at the University of Geneva.
Didier Queloz was born in 1966 and teaches at both the University of Geneva and the University of Cambridge.
Peebles, Mayor and Queloz received the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for helping to create new analytical perspectives on our place in the Universe. "Peebles has investigated the cosmos and its galaxies, developing a theoretical approach that has become the foundation of our modern understanding of the history of the Universe, from the Big Bang, the explosion that created the Universe itself, to the present day," the committee explained.
Peebles dedicated two decades to studying the greatest mystery of modern physics. The scholar managed to analyse and interpret the radiation produced during the Big Bang — radiation that is still present around us today. The results showed that only 5 per cent of the Universe is known to us, the part that makes up stars, planets, trees and human beings. The remaining 95 per cent remains entirely unexplored.
"Mayor and Queloz explored our galaxy, the Milky Way, in search of unknown worlds. In 1995, they discovered 51 Pegasi, a gaseous planet outside our solar system — an exoplanet — orbiting a star similar to the Sun. They set in motion a true revolution in astronomy that, from that day on, has enabled the discovery of more than 4,000 planets in the Milky Way," the committee explained.
With their discoveries they called into question our preconceptions about the planetary system, compelling scientists to revise their theories on the physical processes underlying the origin of planets.
Furthermore, their discovery brings us ever closer to understanding whether there are forms of life beyond our solar system.
Last year, the Nobel Prize in Physics went to Arthur Ashkin, Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland for their innovations in laser techniques.
