Thursday, June 2, 2016

2016 Shaw Prize in Astronomy and Kavli Prize in Astrophysics

Two more recognitions for LIGO! The 2016 Shaw Prize in Astronomy  is awarded to Ron Drever, Kip Thorne and Rai Weiss for conceiving and designing the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), whose recent direct detection of gravitational waves opens a new window in astronomy, with the first remarkable discovery being the merger of a pair of stellar mass black holes. The 2016 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics is also awarded to Ron Drever, Kip Thorne and Rai Weiss for the direct detection of gravitational waves. From the Kavli release: “The detection of gravitational waves is an achievement for which hundreds of scientists, engineers and technicians around the world share credit. Drever, Thorne and Weiss stand out: their ingenuity, inspiration, intellectual leadership and tenacity were the driving force behind this epic discovery.”