STOCKHOLM, October 8. /TASS/. The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Canadian scientist James Peebles "for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology" and Swiss researchers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz "for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star", the Nobel Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences informed on Tuesday.
"This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics rewards new understanding of the universe’s structure and history, and the first discovery of a planet orbiting a solar-type star outside our solar system," the press release informs. "This year’s Laureates have transformed our ideas about the cosmos."
The theoretical basis developed by Peebles in the past two decades "laid a foundation for the transformation of cosmology over the last fifty years, from speculation to science", forming the basis of the contemporary ideas about the universe, the committee said.
In 1995, Mayor and Queloz discovered the first exoplanet outside the Solar System. "At the Haute-Provence Observatory in southern France, using custom-made instruments, they were able to see planet 51 Pegasi b, a gaseous ball comparable with the solar system’s biggest gas giant, Jupiter," the press release stated. "This discovery started a revolution in astronomy and over 4,000 exoplanets have since been found in the Milky Way.".