Michel Mayor

Michel Mayor. A Swiss astrophysicist and professor emeritus at the University of Geneva, he is renowned for a groundbreaking discovery that revolutionized astronomy. In 1995, he and his doctoral student Didier Queloz announced the detection of 51 Pegasi b, the first confirmed exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star. This seminal work earned him a share of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2019 and established him as a pioneer in the search for worlds beyond our Solar System.

Early life and education

Born in Lausanne, he developed an early interest in the sciences. He completed his undergraduate studies in physics at the University of Lausanne before moving to the University of Geneva for his graduate work. Under the supervision of André Brahic, he earned his PhD in astronomy in 1971 with a thesis on the kinematic properties of stars in the solar neighborhood. His doctoral research laid a crucial foundation in stellar dynamics and precision measurement, skills that would later prove instrumental in his hunt for planets.

Career and research

Mayor spent his entire academic career at the University of Geneva's Observatory of Geneva. He became a full professor in 1984 and later served as director of the observatory. His early research focused on stellar kinematics, galactic structure, and the development of advanced spectroscopic instruments. In the late 1970s, he began collaborating with instrument designer André Baranne to build CORAVEL, a highly precise radial velocity spectrometer. This work culminated in the creation of ELODIE spectrograph and later the HARPS spectrograph on the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory in Chile, instruments that set the global standard for measuring minute stellar wobbles caused by orbiting planets.

Discovery of 51 Pegasi b

Using the newly commissioned ELODIE spectrograph on the Observatoire de Haute-Provence telescope in France, Mayor and Queloz embarked on a survey of Sun-like stars. In 1995, their data revealed a periodic wobble in the star 51 Pegasi, indicating the presence of an orbiting companion. The inferred object, designated 51 Pegasi b, was a shock: a gas giant with a mass about half that of Jupiter orbiting incredibly close to its host star in just 4.2 days, defying then-prevailing theories of planet formation. The confirmation of their results, presented at a conference in Florence, was initially met with skepticism but was soon verified by teams including Geoffrey Marcy and R. Paul Butler at the Lick Observatory. This discovery ignited the modern field of exoplanetology.

Awards and honors

Mayor's discovery has been recognized with numerous prestigious international awards. He received the Marcel Benoist Prize in 1998 and the Balzan Prize in 2000. In 2004, he was awarded the Albert Einstein Medal. He shared the 2011 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award with Didier Queloz. One of his highest honors came in 2017 when he and Queloz were awarded the Wolf Prize in Physics. The pinnacle of recognition was the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics, which he shared with Queloz and cosmologist James Peebles. He is also a recipient of the Kyoto Prize and is a member of several academies, including the French Academy of Sciences.

Personal life

He is known to be a private individual who maintains a strong connection to the mountains and outdoor activities of his native Switzerland. An avid sailor in his younger years, he has participated in several regattas. He is married and has two children. Following his official retirement, he remains actively engaged in research and public outreach, frequently lecturing on the philosophical implications of discovering other worlds and the ongoing search for life in the universe.

Category:Swiss astrophysicists Category:Nobel laureates in Physics Category:Exoplanet discoverers