The Scientific Council of the Astronomical Society of France awarded their most prestigious prize to Suzy Collin-Zahn, emeritus astronomer at the Paris Observatory, and to Rafail Rebolo Lopez, Director of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) in recognition of the exceptionally high quality of their work.
Created in 1897, the Jules Janssen prize is in honour of the Paris Observatory astronomer who discovered helium during solar exclipse observations. It is awarded alternatively to French astronomers (odd numbered years) and to foreign astronomers (even numbered years).
The list of astronomical personalities who have been awarded this prize includes prestigious names such as Camille Flammarion (1897), Arthur Eddington (1928), Albert Einstein (1931), Harlow Shapley (1933), Georges Lemaître (1936). To date, the only Spanish astronomer who has received this prize was Josep Comas i Solà in 1905.
Francoise Combes, astronomer at the Paris Observatory and member of the Academy of Sciences, will introduce and give the prize as well as the commerative medal to Suzy Collin-Zahn, while Roger Ferlet, past president of the Astronomical Society of France, will officiate in the case of Rafael Rebolo. The two award winners will give a talk at the ceremony on their main discoveries.
The astrophysicist Suzy Collin-Zahn is a world-wide expert, well known for her work on the plasma physics in active galactic nuclei, in the accretion discs around supermassive black holes, as well as on problems related to radiation transfer in this type of galaxy. Her books and articles for the popularization of science and on the role of astronomy in science and culture are included in the citation.
The Spanish astronomer Rafael Rebolo led many research teams before becoming director of the IAC. His work covers a vast spectrum, including fluctuations in the cosmological background radiation, searches for brown dwarfs and other substellar bodies, and, more recently, exopanets.
The ceremony will be followed by a talk by the winner of the “Gabrielle et Camille Flammarion” prize, the astronomer Mike Simmons, director of the Astronomers Without Borders society : the prize was awarded for the remarkable work of this Society in popularizing astronomy world wide, both in sschools and for the general public.