Herschel Medal for Reinhard Genzel

The Herschel Medal is awarded for investigations of outstanding merit in observational astrophysics, and Genzel and his group have achieved many breakthroughs in both galactic and extragalactic astrophysics. The RAS states that “Genzel and his group made pioneering observations to map the motions of stars close to the Galactic centre, leading to firm evidence for the existence of a supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way and to an accurate estimate of its mass. Subsequent research by Genzel’s group has demonstrated the unusual mass-spectrum and geometry of stars at the centre of the Galaxy and to the discovery of infrared flares that are thought to arise from gas close to the inner accretion disc of the black hole.” In addition, “Genzel has made numerous contributions to our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution, where he has led the development and exploitation of near and far infrared spectroscopy and high resolution imaging.”

Professor Genzel has received many prizes and awards, including the Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation, the 2003 Balzan Prize for his work on infrared instrumentation, the 2008 Shaw Prize, and the Crafoord Prize in 2012.