Robert Kennicutt facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Robert C. Kennicutt, Jr
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|---|---|
| Born | September 4, 1951 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute University of Washington |
| Awards | Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics (2007) Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2009) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Institutions | Texas A&M University |
| Thesis | H II regions as extragalactic distance indicators (1978) |
Robert Charles Kennicutt, Jr. is a famous American astronomer. He is a professor at Texas A&M University. He used to be a special professor of astronomy at the University of Cambridge.
His main work is about how galaxies are built and how they change over time. He also studies how new stars are born inside galaxies.
Studying the Stars
Robert Kennicutt studied physics and astronomy. He earned his first degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1973. Later, he got his master's and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Washington.
He helped create an important idea called the Kennicutt–Schmidt law. This law helps scientists understand how quickly new stars form in a part of space. It connects the amount of gas in an area to how many stars are being made there.
Exploring Galaxies
The SINGS Project
Dr. Kennicutt was the leader of a big science project. It was called the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS). This project used the Spitzer Space Telescope.
The telescope looked at 75 galaxies that are close to us. It studied them using different types of light. This helped scientists learn a lot about how galaxies work.
Awards and Honors
Dr. Kennicutt has won many important awards for his work. In 2007, he received the Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics. This award is given to top astronomers.
He also shared the 2009 Gruber Prize in Cosmology. He won this award with two other scientists. They were honored for helping to measure how fast the universe is growing. This measurement is part of something called Hubble's law.
He became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001. In 2011, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists. In 2019, he received the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society.
