The Fizeau and Michelson Prizes were awarded to Steve Ridgway and Peter Tuthill, respectively, at the SPIE conference in Yokohama, Japan, on June 21, 2024, in recognition of their scientific contributions to the field of astronomical interferometry.
The Fizeau Prize was awarded by the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur to Steve Ridgway for his lifelong work on long-baseline interferometry. « Participating in a field from its beginning through the exponential growth phase is like taking a constantly reimagined road trip », tells Steve Ridgway. He is an extremely prolific researcher and has contributed to many instruments and observatories. His work covers lunar occultations, speckle interferometry, Fourier interferometers, and he has also contributed to the construction of several facilities, including IRMA, IOTA, and the CHARA and Keck interferometers. Steve Ridgway has also contributed to the OHANA project, to FLUOR and has contributed to important decisions, notably concerning the VLTI and the open time of CHARA. Finally, Steve Ridgway continues his work with contributions on quantum methods applied to optics.
The Michelson Prize was awarded by the Lowell Observatory to Dr Peter Tuthill of the University of Sydney at the same event. Peter Tuthill has contributed to theoretical work, instrumentation, science and student training in the field of interferometry. He has notably participated in many instruments, from COAST to CHARA and the VLTI ; the establishment of aperture masking as the reference technique for high resolution at single aperture ; developments in photonics and space interferometry ; and a wide range of scientific results. Peter Tuthill supported many students in interferometry whom have had a strong and lasting impact on this scientific field.
About Côte d'Azur Observatory
The Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur is an internationally renowned observatory whose origins date back to 1881, when Raphaël Bischofsheim asked architect Charles Garnier to build the world's best observatory on the Mont-Gros hill in Nice, with the help of engineer Gustave Eiffel for the large equatorial dome. Early scientific work included the discovery of numerous asteroids and comets, as well as experiments on the Earth's magnetism and measurements of the speed of light. Since then, the observatory has developed its activities considerably, and the most recent work includes the construction of cutting-edge instruments for the world's very largest telescopes, and the study of the formation of our solar system and exoplanets, particularly with the help of the JWST.
About Lowell Observatory
Founded in 1894, Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, is a renowned nonprofit research institution. It is the site of historic and groundbreaking discoveries, including the first evidence of the expanding universe and the discovery of Pluto. Today, Lowell's astronomers utilize global ground-based and space telescopes, along with NASA spacecraft, for diverse astronomical and planetary science research. The observatory hosts over 100,000 annual visitors for educational tours, presentations, and telescope viewing through a suite of world-class public telescopes.
