Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz

Didier Queloz and Michel Mayor, Nobel Prize winner in Physics 2019 © UNIGE

“On October 6, 1995, Michel Mayor, Professor at the Observatory of the Faculty of Science of the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, and his doctoral student Didier Queloz revolutionized the world of astrophysics when they announced the discovery of the first planet located outside our solar system. Named 51 Pegasi b, this very first exoplanet had a huge impact on the astrophysicist community. Since then, research has continued to develop, allowing for the subsequent discovery of about 4000 exoplanets so far. Today, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz share the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics with James Peebles, a Canadian-American cosmologist.”

Source: University of Geneva