Submitted by Matthew Bothwell on Wed, 31/01/2024 - 18:14
The Crafoord Prize in Astronomy
The Crafoord Prize in Astronomy 2024 is awarded to Douglas Gough, University of Cambridge, UK, Jørgen Christensen-Dalsgaard, Aarhus University, Denmark, and Conny Aerts, KU Leuven, Belgium “for developing the methods of asteroseismology and their application to the study of the interior of the Sun and of other stars.”
Seismologists learn about the interior of the Earth by studying how it shakes during earthquakes. The three laureates have discovered that similar methods can also be used in astronomy. The interior of the Sun and stars can be investigated by studying movements on their surfaces, caused by internal oscillations that are similar to soundwaves. This is called asteroseismology.
When Douglas Gough started his theoretical work, he focused on the Sun and soon had the assistance of his doctoral student, Jørgen Christensen-Dalsgaard. He and hundreds of other researchers established a network called the GONG telescopes. This resulted in entirely new discoveries, such as how the interior of the Sun rotates differently to its outer layer.
“Twinkle, twinkle, little star, / how I wonder WHAT you are!” is the text of a well-known nursery rhyme. Small changes that we perceive in a star’s brightness are also due to the oscillations in its interior.
“By establishing an entirely new field of research, which studies the way that stars ‘twinkle’, the laureates have given us the ability to answer the nursery rhyme’s question. We can learn more about the stars’ structure and rotation, as well as about the history of the Milky Way,” says Bengt Gustafsson, Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Astrophysics at Uppsala University, and a member of the prize committee.
Douglas Gough is Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Astrophysics in the University of Cambridge, UK. He was born on 8 February 1941 in Stourport, Worcestershire, UK, and received his PhD in 1966 from the University of Cambridge.
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Text adapted from a press release issued by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.