January 21 2009, Ottawa, ON - Dr. Christian Marois of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) was named Scientist of the Year 2008 by Radio-Canada today. This award recognizes his team's achievement in capturing the first-ever images of planets circling a star other than the Sun (i.e. exoplanets). The award is shared by the other Canadian members of the team: David Lafrenière (University of Toronto) and René Doyon (Université de Montréal).
Radio-Canada, the French-language service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, has honoured a scientific personality as Scientist of the Year each year since 1987.
"NRC is proud of Dr. Marois and his groundbreaking contribution to the field of astronomy," said NRC President Dr. Pierre Coulombe. "I am very pleased Radio-Canada chose to recognize NRC's world-class research."
The team, led by Dr. Marois, used the Gemini North and Keck telescopes on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii to capture infrared images of the planets. The images were then confirmed using advanced instrumentation and image-processing technology, allowing the team to identify three planets larger than Jupiter orbiting a star known as HR 8799. This star, 130 light years from Earth in the constellation of Pegasus, is faintly visible to the naked eye.
"I am extremely honoured that Radio-Canada chose us as Scientist of the Year," said Dr. Marois. "Our discovery is the culmination of eight years of research. When I first saw the images of the exoplanets, I couldn't believe I was looking at the real thing - a second solar system. I am pleased that our discovery has captured the imagination of my colleagues and that Canadians are as excited about it as I am."
In 2005, Dr. Christian Marois won the Plaskett Medal for his doctoral thesis at Université de Montréal: "Direct Exoplanet Imaging around Sun-like Stars: Beating the Speckle Noise with Innovative Imaging Techniques." So far, Dr. Marois and his team have been recognized for their discovery by:
- Science: The magazine recognized the first direct images of exoplanets as the second biggest scientific breakthrough of 2008.
- Space.com: The popular web site ranked the team's discovery as the top astronomy story of the year.
- Time: The discovery ranked sixth amongst the magazine's "Top 10 Scientific Discoveries of 2008."
"NRC has an excellent reputation worldwide in astronomy," added Dr. Marois. "Our discovery has opened the door for much more work, including finding out more about HR 8799 and imaging other solar systems."
For more information, please visit the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca or contact:
