Wowie! An Australian astronomer wins the Nobel prize

[seeker372011]

Congratulations Brian Schmidt

How wonderful

What a shot in the arm for Australian astronomy

Bring on the SKA!

[Octane]

Wow!

Congratulations, Professor Schmidt. :)

H

[gary]

Fabulous news!

Brian's colleague, Adam Riess (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Riess), who is also based at ANU also won the prize along with Saul Perlmutter in the U.S.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/australian-scientist-brian-schmidt-one-of-trio-awarded-nobel-physics-prize/story-e6frg8y6-1226158455233

[seeker372011]

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2011/press.html#

[h0ughy]

great news

[spacezebra]

This is brilliant news. Brian presented at one of our ASAW meetings - stunning presentation and excellent gentleman. Congrats to all recipients.

Cheers Petra d.

[Peter Ward]

Congrats to Brian Schmidt on sharing this year's Physics Nobel... another "adopted" aussie who has done us proud (along Mel, Rus and Hugh :) )

(I actually met Brian at the Malin awards a few years ago..and oddly enough...he gave an excellent talk at CWAS on the accelerating universe back then...Very approachable and nice guy......I suspect it took the mob in Stockholm a few years to catch up! )

[glenc]

Congratulations Brian. I enjoyed his talk at the Qld Astrofest.

[Brettstar6754]

Congrats Brian,
I remember back in 2002-3? Brian gave our club, WSAAG, an excellent talk on the High Z Supernova search team. He included a beautiful deep image of one of my Supernovae, 2000do.
Today i am proud.

Great news for Australian Astronomy.

[Zaps]

Yep, a fair dinkum Aussie through and through!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_P._Schmidt

:lol: ;) :P

[PeterM]

He's a top bloke too. And he can hold his own with port.....matched it with a few of us, glass for glass at Astrofest a few years ago. Great news for a great man.
PeterM.

[sjastro]

The Yanks still claim him however.....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/3-us-born-scientists-win-nobel-prize-in-physics/2011/10/04/gIQATIV3KL_story.html

Regards

Steven

[Zaps]

That's probably due to the fact that Schmidt is American...

:lol:

[AstralTraveller]

Wow and far out! Congratulations to Brian. And congratulations to Brett, Peter and the other amateurs who assist this type of research.



Who needed to be in Australia to succeed.

from the ABC:

Professor Schmidt, a joint US-Australian citizen, said he may not have become a Nobel winner if he had not met his Australian wife at Harvard and come to live in the country 17 years ago.
"For me, I think being in Australia was probably, you know, absolutely essential for being part of this," he said.
"I came here at the age of 27 and was able, and was backed with the resources and just the status, to run an international team.
"And you know that's a uniquely Australian thing. So I guess for me I think if I had stayed in the US this might not have happened.
"So I guess I am very grateful to ANU and Australia in general for all the support I got here as a very young person."
Professor Schmidt said one of the reasons he was so readily willing to come to Australia was the opportunity to work at Mount Stromlo, which he described as "one of the great astronomical institutions in the world".

[Ric]

I heard it announced on the news this morning, definitely an excellent result.

Congratulations to all of the researchers.

[Brundah1]

What a massive shot in the arm for the RSAA and Brian in particular.
Thanks to everyone for sharing their personal experiences of contact with Brian.

I heard him speaking on ABC radio this morning, he comes across just as you have said - a regular guy with his feet on Aussie ground and his head in the universe.

Loved his humble response "I think one Nobel Prize is enough for one lifetime." He joins a notable line of high achievers stretching back to the beginnings of research at the Commonwealth Solar Observatory.

I am sure one of those high achievers, Ben Gascoigne (I last spoke to just before he died last year) will be hugely proud of Brian and this achievement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Gascoigne

BTW found this wonderful presentation on Brian's website, "Life History of the Universe":
http://msowww.anu.edu.au/%7Ebrian/ftp/LifeHistoryofUniverse-1.pdf

I wish Brian and his SkyMapper Team further success at RSAA. See attached photo.

David

[CraigS]

So Darkness, (energy), was (partially) started by an Aussie, eh ?

Congratulations Brian Schmidt, for succeeding in a tough area of research and thank you for your efforts in raising the profile of observational Astronomy at an international level.

Great to see.

Cheers

[gary]

Hi David,

Every time I visit the AAT and spot that gap in the railing of the catwalk and
look at that incredibly long drop from there to the floor, I shudder at the
thought of how Gascoigne fell from there in the dark.

[astroron]

Congratulations to Brian Schmidt and the team :thumbsup:
I had a one on one conversation with Brian for about one hour at Astrofest the same year as Peter:),that he would talk to a mere Amateur Astronomer for such a long time shows the humilety of the man:)
Cheers :thumbsup:

[AstralTraveller]

Just by chance I heard the ABC Country Hour today and they also interviewed Brian. That may seem strange but they focussed on his other quest in life: making the perfect pinot noir. It seems he has a small vineyard which makes only pinot noir, only 50 barrels last year. He commented that he tries to get everything in perfect in astrophysics but in winemaking this isn't possible. In this respect winemaking is actually harder than astrophysics.

I must say this has really raised Brian in my estimation :D. Great pinot noir is one of the special pleasures of life.

http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201110/s3332611.htm

[Liz]

Congratulations indeed Brian!!

Just saw a nice interview on '7 PM Project'.

[venus]

An amazing discovery congratulations Brian!