For more than 16 years, Ghez and her team have used high-resolution imaging technologies with the twin 10-meter Keck telescopes in order to explore the center of the Milky Way. By tracking the rapid, small-scale orbits of stars at the Galactic Center, they discovered the presence of a source of tremendous gravity, Keck officials said, adding that’s the best evidence yet that a supermassive black hole exists there.
A Keck Observatory astronomer this week won the 2012 Crafoord Prize in Astronomy, an award Keck officials said is almost as prestigious for astronomers as a Nobel Prize.
The University of California at Los Angeles-based Andrea Ghez was honored for her work with the discovery of a super-massive black hole at the center of our galaxy, Keck officials said Friday.
Ghez will be the first woman to be awarded this prize in any field in its 30-year history
For more than 16 years, Ghez and her team have used high-resolution imaging technologies with the twin 10-meter Keck telescopes in order to explore the center of the Milky Way. By tracking the rapid, small-scale orbits of stars at the Galactic Center, they discovered the presence of a source of tremendous gravity, Keck officials said, adding that’s the best evidence yet that a supermassive black hole exists there.