Robert Kennicutt facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Robert C. Kennicutt, Jr
|
|
|---|---|
| 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 an American astronomer. An astronomer is a scientist who studies everything outside of Earth, like stars, planets, and galaxies.
He is currently a professor at Texas A&M University in the United States. He used to be a special professor of astronomy at the University of Cambridge in England. He also helped lead important science journals like the Astrophysical Journal and the Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Robert Kennicutt studies how galaxies are built and how they change over time. He also looks at how new stars are born inside these galaxies.
Contents
Becoming an Astronomer
Robert Kennicutt studied physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and earned his first degree in 1973. He then went on to study astronomy at the University of Washington. There, he earned his master's degree in 1976 and his Ph.D. (a very high-level degree) in 1978.
During his studies, he developed an important idea called the Kennicutt–Schmidt law. This law helps scientists understand how fast new stars form in a galaxy based on how much gas is in that area.
Exploring Galaxies
The Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey
One of Robert Kennicutt's big projects was leading the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS). This project used the Spitzer Space Telescope to study 75 nearby galaxies.
The Spitzer Space Telescope was a special telescope that could see infrared light. This type of light helps astronomers see through dust clouds in space to find new stars forming. By studying these galaxies, scientists learned a lot about how stars are born and how galaxies grow.
Awards and Recognition
Robert Kennicutt has received many important awards for his work in astronomy:
- In 2007, he won the Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics. This award is given to scientists who make big discoveries in astrophysics.
- In 2009, he shared the Gruber Prize in Cosmology. He won this award with two other scientists, Wendy Freedman and Jeremy Mould. They were recognized for accurately measuring how fast the universe is expanding. This measurement is based on something called Hubble's law.
- He became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001.
- He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2011. This is a very old and respected group of scientists in the United Kingdom.
- In 2019, he received the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society for Astronomy. This is one of the highest honors an astronomer can receive.
- In 2020, he was chosen as a Legacy Fellow of the American Astronomical Society.
