Nobel Prize in Physics 2017 awarded to Weiss, Barish and Thorne for observation of gravitational waves

The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne on Tuesday. The scientists were awarded "for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves."

The announcement was made by Secretary General Göran K. Hansson of The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm Sweden.

The 2017 #NobelPrize in Physics is awarded “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves” pic.twitter.com/qjO5MmxmlZ

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 3, 2017

Learn more about the 2017 #NobelPrize in Physics via the popular info ”Cosmic chirps” (pdf): https://t.co/tSs58eZ5Xj pic.twitter.com/CLHkegfYgg

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 3, 2017

LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) a collaborative project with over 1,000 researchers from more than 20 countries. pic.twitter.com/dOjyKx2qUd

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 3, 2017

On 14 September 2015, the universe’s gravitational waves were observed for the very first time. The waves, which were predicted by Albert Einstein a hundred years ago, came from a collision between two black holes. It took 1.3 billion years for the waves to arrive at the LIGO detector in the USA.

On 14 Sept. 2015, the universe’s gravitational waves, predicted by Albert Einstein 100 years ago, were observed for the first time. pic.twitter.com/oWWj8SE1b9

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 3, 2017

The waves came from a collision between two black holes. It took 1.3 billion years for the waves to arrive at the LIGO detector in the USA. pic.twitter.com/kg6vQbIm7t

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 3, 2017

You can read about their work in detail here

Details about the winners

Rainer Weiss, born 1932 in Berlin, Germany. Ph.D. 1962 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA. Professor of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Barry C. Barish, born 1936 in Omaha, NE, USA. Ph.D. 1962 from University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Linde Professor of Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

Kip S. Thorne, born 1940 in Logan, UT, USA. Ph.D. 1965 from Princeton University, NJ, USA. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

The prize in physics is awarded by the Academy which selected the laureate through a majority vote held on Tuesday morning.

The Nobel prize is currently worth 9 million Swedish kronor. The Physics Laureates are in average the youngest of all Laureates, with an average age of 55.

Since 1901, 110 Nobel Prizes in Physics have been awarded to 203 individuals.

To date, the youngest Nobel Laureate in Physics is Lawrence Bragg, who was 25 years old when he was awarded the Nobel Prize together with his father in 1915.  Raymond Davis Jr., who was 88 years old when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2002 is the oldest.

The ceremony where the medals are awarded to the winners will be held in Stockholm in December.