Herschel Medal

Herschel Medal
Mike Irwin receiving the Herschel Medal in 2012
Awarded for	"investigations of outstanding merit in observational astrophysics"[1]
Country	United Kingdom
Presented by	Royal Astronomical Society
Reward	Medal
First awarded	1974[2]
Last awarded	2015[3]
Currently held by	James Dunlop[4]
Official website	www.ras.org.uk/awards-and-grants/awards/2272-herschel-medal

The Herschel Medal is awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) for "investigations of outstanding merit in observational astrophysics". It is awarded for a single piece of work so that younger scientists can be candidates for the award.^[1] It is named after the RAS's first president, William Herschel.^[5] The medal was first awarded in 1974. The medal has been shared twice, in 1977 and 1986. It has been awarded 18 times to a total of 20 people (19 men, one woman).^[2][3]

Medalists

Photo	Year	Medalist(s)	Field	References
	1974	John Paul Wild		[2]
	1977	Arno Penzias Robert Woodrow Wilson		[2]
	1980	Gérard de Vaucouleurs		[2]
	1983	William W. Morgan		[2]
	1986	Albert Boggess Robert Wilson		[2]
	1989	Jocelyn Bell Burnell		[2]
	1992	Andrew Lyne		[2]
	1995	George Isaak		[2]
	1998	Gerald Neugebauer		[2]
	2001	Patrick Thaddeus		[2]
	2004	Keith Horne	Cataclysmic variable stars and exoplanets	[2][6]
	2006	Govind Swarup	Radio astronomy	[2][7]
	2008	Max Pettini	Extragalactic cosmology	[2][5]
	2010	James Hough	Polarimetry	[2][8]
	2012	Mike Irwin	Digital optical and infrared surveys	[2][9]
	2013	Michael Kramer	Pulsars	[2][10]
	2014	Reinhard Genzel	Galactic and Extragalactic astronomy	[2][11]
	2015	Stephen Eales	Submillimetre astronomy	[3][12]
	2016	James Dunlop		[4]

References

1. "Awards, Medals and Prizes - Herschel Medal". RAS. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
2. "Herschel Medal Winners" (pdf). RAS. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
3. "Winners of the 2015 awards, medals and prizes - full details". RAS date=9 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
4. "RAS honours leading astronomers and geophysicist". RAS. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
5. "Leading astronomers and geophysicists honoured with RAS medals and prizes". RAS. 8 January 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
6. "Royal Astronomical Society announces 2004 medals and awards". RAS. 2 March 2005. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
7. "Citation for Professor Govind Swarup for The Herschel Medal" (pdf). RAS. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
8. "RAS Honours Outstanding Astronomers and Geophysicists". RAS. 22 March 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
9. "RAS honours leading astronomers and geophysicists". RAS. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
10. "Winners of the 2013 awards, medals and prizes - full details". RAS. 10 January 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
11. "Winners of the 2014 awards, medals and prizes - full details". RAS. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
12. "Cardiff University astronomers honoured for helping to improve our understanding of the universe". Wales Online. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.