Science and Technology Facilities Council
 Printable version
|
Success for UK as British scientists share in astronomy prize
British scientists have scooped a prestigious million dollar international prize for their world-leading research in astronomy.
The 2014 Shaw Prize in Astronomy recognises the achievements of two eminent scientists from the UK and another from the USA. It highlights the importance of their work over the last two decades in producing a tenfold increase in large-scale sky surveys.
Professor John Peacock (University of Edinburgh), Professor Shaun Cole (Durham University) and Professor Daniel Eisenstein (Harvard University) share the one million US dollar prize for their work on the UK-Australian Two-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) and the USA-led Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
Professors Peacock and Cole were co-leaders for the 2dFGRS, which catalogued 220,000 galaxies between 1995 and 2002, a tenfold leap in the size of such studies.
The distribution of galaxies makes colossal patterns in space, hundreds of millions of light-years in extent. The form of this structure is set by the action of gravity over the entire history of the universe, and its detailed properties tell us much about the overall nature of the universe.
The characteristic size of these structures gives a natural standard ruler called Baryon Acoustic Oscillation – sound waves that originated a few seconds after the Big Bang – which could be used to measure distances in the Universe and the rate at which it is expanding. The size of the velocities associated with the growing structure gives a test of Einstein's theory of gravity (measured via ‘redshift-space distortions’).
Professor Peacock said "The 2dFGRS was an incredibly successful project, made possible by many essential contributions from members of a big team. We all felt at the time that we were doing something revolutionary, and it's wonderful to see this work get the recognition it deserves.
“The research was made possible by the UK's joint funding of the Anglo-Australian Telescope, which provided access to a unique research facility for more than 25 years,” he added.
The UK funding for the Anglo-Australian Telescope came from the predecessors to STFC, the Science and Engineering Research Council and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Councils.
Professor Cole said: “The theory of baryon acoustic oscillations had already been predicted, but the work we did on 2dFGRS, and the work of our colleagues on the Sloan survey, confirmed that these sound-waves could be used as a yardstick to measure the expansion of the Universe.
Professor Cole said: “The theory of baryon acoustic oscillations had already been predicted, but the work we did on 2dFGRS, and the work of our colleagues on the Sloan survey, confirmed that these sound-waves could be used as a yardstick to measure the expansion of the Universe.
The three colleagues will be presented with their prize at a ceremony at The Shaw Prize Foundation in Hong Kong later this year.
More information:
Marion O’Sullivan
STFC Press Office
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Tel. 01235 445627
Mobile 07824 888990
The Shaw Prize
The Shaw Prize is an international award to honour individuals who are currently active in their respective fields and who have recently achieved distinguished and significant advances, who have made outstanding contributions in academic and scientific research or applications, or who in other domains have achieved excellence. The award is dedicated to furthering societal progress, enhancing quality of life, and enriching humanity's spiritual civilization.
Preference is given to individuals whose significant work was recently achieved and who are currently active in their respective fields.
The Shaw Prize consists of three annual awards: the Prize in Astronomy, the Prize in Life Science and Medicine, and the Prize in Mathematical Sciences. Each prize carries a monetary award of one million US dollars.
About STFC
The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is keeping the UK at the forefront of international science and tackling some of the most significant challenges facing society such as meeting our future energy needs, monitoring and understanding climate change, and global security. The Council has a broad science portfolio and works with the academic and industrial communities to share its expertise in materials science, space and ground-based astronomy technologies, laser science, microelectronics, wafer scale manufacturing, particle and nuclear physics, alternative energy production, radio communications and radar.
STFC operates or hosts world class experimental facilities including in the UK the ISIS pulsed neutron source, the Central Laser Facility, and LOFAR, and is also the majority shareholder in Diamond Light Source Ltd.
It enables UK researchers to access leading international science facilities by funding membership of international bodies including European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL), European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO). STFC is one of seven publicly-funded research councils.
It is an independent, non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
Follow us on Twitter at @STFC_Matters. www.stfc.ac.uk
