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Echo of Big Bang wins US duo Nobel Prize
American Scientists Bag The Award In Physics For Pinpointing Age Of The Universe
Stockholm: Americans John Mather and George Smoot won the 2006 Nobel prize for physics on Tuesday for work on cosmic radiation which helped pinpoint the age of the universe and supported the Big Bang theory of its birth.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awarded the $1.37 million prize, said the two men were instrumental to the success of the cosmic background explorer (COBE) satellite programme launched by Nasa in 1989.
Their work took Big Bang theory, which contends the universe began 15 billion years ago as a tiny dot that exploded into todayââ¬â¢s huge system of stars and planets, out of the realm of mathematical equations and into the world of precise science.
When their research was published in 1992, famed cosmologist Stephen Hawking called it the ââ¬Ågreatest discovery of the century, if not of all timeââ¬Â.
ââ¬ÅThe COBE results provided increased support for the Big Bang scenario for the origin of the universe, as this is the only scenario that predicts the kind of microwave background radiation measured by COBE,ââ¬Â the Academy said.
The radiation they looked at, socalled blackbody radiation, allowed the laureates to show the universe had cooled from its initial fiery state of 3,000 degrees centigrade to a chill 2.7 degrees above absolute zero, which is minus 273 degrees centigrade.
This supported the theory that the universe was expanding. Their measurements also showed temperature variations in background radiation in space, in the range of a hundredthousandth of a degree, that offered clues as to how galaxies, stars and planets were formed by as matter coalesced.
Mather, 60, coordinated the COBE programme and was responsible for one of its key experiments while astrophysicist Smoot, 61, of the University of California, Berkeley, was in charge of measuring small temperature variations in the radiation, the Academy said.
Mather, of the Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, told a news conference over a telephone link he was ââ¬Åthrilled and amazedââ¬Â.
ââ¬ÅI canââ¬â¢t say I am completely surprised. People have been saying we should be awarded (it),ââ¬Â he added.
Smoot said that the Nobel committee called him at 2:45 am Pacific Time after first dialling the wrong number. REUTERS
American Scientists Bag The Award In Physics For Pinpointing Age Of The Universe
Stockholm: Americans John Mather and George Smoot won the 2006 Nobel prize for physics on Tuesday for work on cosmic radiation which helped pinpoint the age of the universe and supported the Big Bang theory of its birth.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awarded the $1.37 million prize, said the two men were instrumental to the success of the cosmic background explorer (COBE) satellite programme launched by Nasa in 1989.
Their work took Big Bang theory, which contends the universe began 15 billion years ago as a tiny dot that exploded into todayââ¬â¢s huge system of stars and planets, out of the realm of mathematical equations and into the world of precise science.
When their research was published in 1992, famed cosmologist Stephen Hawking called it the ââ¬Ågreatest discovery of the century, if not of all timeââ¬Â.
ââ¬ÅThe COBE results provided increased support for the Big Bang scenario for the origin of the universe, as this is the only scenario that predicts the kind of microwave background radiation measured by COBE,ââ¬Â the Academy said.
The radiation they looked at, socalled blackbody radiation, allowed the laureates to show the universe had cooled from its initial fiery state of 3,000 degrees centigrade to a chill 2.7 degrees above absolute zero, which is minus 273 degrees centigrade.
This supported the theory that the universe was expanding. Their measurements also showed temperature variations in background radiation in space, in the range of a hundredthousandth of a degree, that offered clues as to how galaxies, stars and planets were formed by as matter coalesced.
Mather, 60, coordinated the COBE programme and was responsible for one of its key experiments while astrophysicist Smoot, 61, of the University of California, Berkeley, was in charge of measuring small temperature variations in the radiation, the Academy said.
Mather, of the Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, told a news conference over a telephone link he was ââ¬Åthrilled and amazedââ¬Â.
ââ¬ÅI canââ¬â¢t say I am completely surprised. People have been saying we should be awarded (it),ââ¬Â he added.
Smoot said that the Nobel committee called him at 2:45 am Pacific Time after first dialling the wrong number. REUTERS
