Prof. Tanaka Awarded US Astronomical Society's Rossi Prize

Prof. Tanaka ( ISAS Professor Emeritus ) was awarded the US Astronomical Society's Rossi Prize along with Professor Andrew C. Fabian of the UK.

Prof. Bruno Rossi is a pioneer in cosmic-ray research at the old Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is famous for leading rocket experiments and discovering the first X-ray star (Scorpius X-1) in 1962.

The Rossi Prize was established by the US Astronomical Society in 1985 to honor the name of Prof. Rossi by commending those scientists who have been particularly original in the field of high-energy astrophysics and those who have remarkable career records. Previous winners of the award include Rashid A. Sunyaev, Stirling A. Colgate, John A. Simpson, Gerald Fishman, and Martin Rees among others.

Prof. Tanaka and Fabian were jointly awared the Rossi Prize this time for their discovery of the fluorescent ferro bright line which spreads out under a relative gravity-like red-shift. The phenomenon was observed by the Japanese X-ray satellite ASCA in the power spectrum of the nucleus of our Galaxy. Though this result was first seen by observation of the active galactic nucleus called MCG-6-30-15, observations by ASCA following this discovered the same phenomenon of a spreading ferro bright line in other active galactic nucleii as well. This phenomonon is thought to influence the black hole accretion disk of the common-law marriage, and the observation of it strongly supports the theory that posits the existence of a giant black hole in the center of the active galactic nucleus, and has made a large contribution to the development of modern astrophysics. We are delighted that the ASCA observation results have been so highly evaluated, and send our hearty congratulations to the two winners.

Tuesday, April 10, 2001
Source: Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS)