Login
Login

Reinhard Genzel

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}

{{Short description|German astrophysicist (born 1952)}}

{{Infobox scientist

|name = Reinhard Genzel

|image = Reinhard Genzel.jpg

|caption = Genzel in 2012

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1952|3|24|df=y}}

|birth_place = Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, West Germany (now Germany)

|death_date =

|death_place =

|education = {{ubl|University of Freiburg (BSc)|University of Bonn (MSc, DPhil)}}

|known_for = Infrared astronomy
Submillimetre astronomy

|field = Astrophysics

|workplaces = Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
University of California, Berkeley

|prizes = {{ubl|Otto Hahn Medal (1980)|Balzan Prize (2003)|Shaw Prize (2008)|Crafoord Prize (2012)|Tycho Brahe Prize (2012)|Fellow of the Royal Society|Harvey Prize (2014)|Nobel Prize in Physics (2020)}}

|thesis_title= Beobachtung von H2O-Masern in Gebieten von OB-Sternentstehung

|thesis_year = 1978

|thesis_url =

|doctoral_advisor=Peter Georg Mezger

}}

Reinhard Genzel {{post-nominals|post-noms=ForMemRS}}{{cite web | title=Royal Society congratulates winners of Nobel Prize in Physics 2020 | website=Royal Society | date=6 October 2020 | url=https://royalsociety.org/news/2020/10/nobel-prize-physics-penrose-genzel-ghez/ | access-date=18 February 2025}} ({{IPA|de|ˈʁaɪnhaʁt ˈɡɛntsl̩|-|De-Reinhard Genzel.ogg}}; born 24 March 1952) is a German astrophysicist, co-director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, a professor at LMU and an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy", which he shared with Andrea Ghez and Roger Penrose.{{cite web |title=Press release: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2020 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2020/press-release/ |publisher=Nobel Foundation |access-date=6 October 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Overbye |first1=Dennis |last2=Taylor |first2=Derrick Bryson |title=Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to 3 Scientists for Work on Black Holes – The prize was awarded half to Roger Penrose for showing how black holes could form and half to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez for discovering a supermassive object at the Milky Way's center. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/science/nobel-prize-physics.html |date=6 October 2020 |work=The New York Times |access-date=6 October 2020 }} In a 2021 interview given to Federal University of Pará in Brazil, Genzel recalls his journey as a physicist; the influence of his father, {{ill|Ludwig Genzel|de}}; his experiences working with Charles H. Townes; and more.{{Citation|title=Interview with Professor Reinhard Genzel (2020 Physics Nobel Prize Laureate) – Pt. I| date=20 July 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ4IzxEnxwA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/xZ4IzxEnxwA| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|language=en|access-date=2021-08-11}}{{cbignore}}{{Citation|title=Interview with Prof. Reinhard Genzel (2020 Physics Nobel Prize Laureate) – Pt. II| date=10 August 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcbOxQMW1h0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/JcbOxQMW1h0| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|language=en|access-date=2021-08-11}}{{cbignore}}

Life and career

Genzel was born in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany, the son of Eva-Maria Genzel and Ludwig Genzel, a professor of solid state physics (1922–2003). He studied physics at the University of Freiburg and the University of Bonn, graduating in 1978 with a PhD in radioastronomy which he prepared at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy.[http://www.mpe.mpg.de/ir/ir_personnel/Genzel_CV_English.pdf Curriculum-vitae] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091005051710/http://www.mpe.mpg.de/ir/ir_personnel/Genzel_CV_English.pdf |date=5 October 2009 }}, website of the Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik Subsequently he worked at the Center for Astrophysics {{!}} Harvard & Smithsonian in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was a Miller Fellow from 1980 until 1982, and also Associate and finally Full Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley from 1981. In 1986, he left Berkeley to become a director at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching and Scientific Member of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.{{cite web | title=Reinhard Genzel (E) | website=UC Berkeley Physics | url=https://physics.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/reinhard-genzel | access-date=6 October 2020}} During that time he also lectured at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, where he has been Honorary Professor since 1988. From 1999 to 2016, he also had a part-time joint appointment as Full Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Additional activities include sitting on the selection committee for the Shaw Prize in astronomy.{{cite web |title=Selection Committees 2020–2021 |url=https://www.shawprize.org/organization#astronomy-year2 |website=www.shawprize.org |access-date=6 October 2020 |language=en}}

Work

Reinhard Genzel studies infrared- and submillimetre astronomy. He and his group are

active in developing ground- and space-based instruments for astronomy. They used these to track the motions of stars at the centre of the Milky Way, around Sagittarius A*, and show that they were orbiting a very massive object, now known to be a black hole.{{Cite journal | last1 = Eckart | first1 = A. | last2 = Genzel | first2 = R. | doi = 10.1038/383415a0 | title = Observations of stellar proper motions near the Galactic Centre | journal = Nature | volume = 383 | issue = 6599 | pages = 415 | year = 1996 | bibcode = 1996Natur.383..415E | s2cid = 4285760 | doi-access = }} Genzel is also active in studies of the formation and evolution of galaxies.

In July 2018, Reinhard Genzel et al. reported that star S2 orbiting Sgr A* had been recorded at 7,650 km/s or 2.55% the speed of light leading up to the pericentre approach in May 2018 at about 120 AU ≈ 1400 Schwarzschild radii from Sgr A*. This allowed them to test the redshift predicted by general relativity at relativistic velocities, finding additional confirmation of the theory.{{cite journal | last1 = Abuter | first1 = R. | last2 = Amorim | first2 = A. | title = Detection of the gravitational redshift in the orbit of the star S2 near the Galactic centre massive black hole | journal = Astronomy & Astrophysics | volume = 615 | pages = L15 | year = 2018 | doi = 10.1051/0004-6361/201833718 | arxiv=1807.09409 | bibcode = 2018A&A...615L..15G | s2cid = 118891445 | access-date = 6 October 2020 | url=https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2018/07/aa33718-18/aa33718-18.html | archive-url= https://archive.today/20180829144419/https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2018/07/aa33718-18/aa33718-18.html | archive-date= 29 August 2018 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Devlin |first=Hannah |last2=correspondent |first2=Hannah Devlin Science |date=2018-07-26 |title=Star spotted speeding near black hole at centre of Milky Way |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jul/26/star-spotted-speeding-near-milky-way-black-hole-for-first-time |access-date=2025-03-25 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

Awards

File:Reinhard Genzel, 2023.jpg

Membership of scientific societies

  • Fellow of the American Physical Society, 1985
  • Foreign member of the Académie des Sciences (Institut de France), 1998
  • Foreign member of the United States National Academy of Sciences, 2000{{cite web | title=Reinhard Genzel | website=National Academy of Sciences | date=18 June 2020 | url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/3009940.html | access-date=6 October 2020}}
  • Member of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina, 2002{{cite web | title=Leopoldina-Präsident Gerald Haug gratuliert Leopoldina-Mitglied Reinhard Genzel zum Nobelpreis für Physik | website=idw | url=https://idw-online.de/en/news755391 | language=de | access-date=6 October 2020}}
  • Senior member of the Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2003{{cite web | title=Neue Mitglieder der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften | website=idw | url=https://idw-online.de/de/news62176 | language=de | access-date=6 October 2020}}
  • Foreign member of the Royal Spanish Academy of Sciences, 2011
  • Foreign member of the Royal Society of London, 2012
  • Member of the Pontifical Academy, 2020 {{cite web | title=Reinhard Genzel appointed to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences | website=Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics | date=15 October 2020 | url=https://www.mpe.mpg.de/7518142/news20201015 | access-date=9 February 2021}}

{{-}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{commons category|Reinhard Genzel}}

{{Scholia}}

  • [http://www.mpe.mpg.de/ir/userpage.php?id=genzel Genzel's Homepage at MPE]
  • [https://www.mpg.de/463056/extraterrestrische_physik_wissM1 Genzel's Profile at the MPG]
  • [https://www.balzan.org/de/preistrager/reinhard-genzel The Balzan-Stiftung award]
  • [http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/black_holes_and_galaxies/ Black Holes and Galaxies 27 July 2009 – ANU podcast mp3 also available as video on youtube]
  • [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDxFjq-scvU Black Holes and Galaxies: Professor Reinhard Genzel – ANU TV on youtube]
  • [https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/10441294653-hyde-park-civilizace/223411058090520/ Reinhard Genzel in Hyde Park Civilization on ČT24 1.7.2023 (moderator Daniel Stach)]
  • {{Nobelprize}}

{{Shaw Prize laureates}}

{{FRS 2012}}

{{Nobel Prize in Physics}}

{{2020 Nobel Prize winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Genzel, Reinhard}}

Category:1952 births

Category:Albert Einstein Medal recipients

Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society

Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences

Category:Foreign members of the Royal Society

Category:German astrophysicists

Category:German Nobel laureates

Category:Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners

Category:Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Category:Living people

Category:Members of the French Academy of Sciences

Category:Nobel laureates in Physics

Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)

Category:Studienstiftung alumni

Category:University of Bonn alumni

Category:University of California, Berkeley faculty

Category:Max Planck Institute directors

Category:Recipients of the Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy