The 2011 Laureates / Basic Sciences / Earth and Planetary Sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics

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Rashid Alievich Sunyaev

Russia, Germany / March 1, 1943
Astrophysicist
Director, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics
Chief Scientist, Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences

"Proposal of the Theory of Fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation to Explore the Expanding Universe, and Outstanding Contribution to High-Energy Astronomy"
Dr. Rashid A. Sunyaev has made a far-reaching influence on contemporary observational cosmology through his theoretical studies of acoustic oscillations in the early universe left their imprint on temperature fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background radiation and the scattering of that radiation by hot electrons in the clusters of galaxies. He has also made significant contributions to high-energy astronomy through his theoretical research on the accretion of matter onto high-density celestial objects and the energy release mechanisms involved, as well as his leadership of international observational projects.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

1943
Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
1973
Doctor of Sciences, Moscow State University
1971-1974
Senior Scientific Researcher, Institute of Applied Mathematics, USSR Academy of Sciences
1975-2001
Professor, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
1982-present
Chief Scientist, Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences
1996-present
Director, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics
2010-present
Maureen and John Hendricks Visiting Professor, Institute for Advanced Study

SELECTED AWARDS AND HONORS

1989
Bruno Rossi Prize, American Astronomical Society
1995
Gold Medal, Royal Astronomical Society
1998
Sir Massey Gold Medal and Award, The Royal Society and COSPAR
2000
Bruce Gold Medal, Astronomical Society of the Pacific
2003
Dannie Heineman Prize in Astrophysics, American Astronomical Society
2003
Gruber Prize, Gruber Foundation
2008
Crafoord Prize in Astronomy, The Crafoord Foundation
2008
Schwarzschild Medal, Astronomische Gesellschaft
2009
King Faisal International Prize for Science, The King Faisal Foundation
Members:
Russian Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, The Royal Society, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina, The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

1970
Small-scale fluctuations of relic radiation (with Zeldovich, Yakov B.). Astrophysics and Space Science 7: 3-19.
1972
The observations of relic radiation as a test of the nature of X-ray radiation from the clusters of galaxies (with Zeldovich, Yakov B.). Comments on Astrophysics and Space Physics 4: 173-178.
1973
Black holes in binary systems. Observational appearance (Shakura, Nikolai I. and Sunyaev, Rashid A.). Astronomy and Astrophysics 24: 337-355.
1980
Comptonization of X-rays in plasma clouds. Typical radiation spectra (with Titarchuk, Lev G.). Astronomy and Astrophysics 86: 121-138.
1987
Discovery of hard X-ray emission from supernova 1987A (Sunyaev, Rashid A. et al). Nature 330: 227-229.