3 scientists awarded Nobel Prize in Physics for discoveries related to black holes

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Roger Penrose of the University of Oxford, for demonstrating that the general theory of relativity leads to the formation of black holes; and to Reinhard Genzel of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and Andrea Gehz of the University of California Los Angeles, for the discovery of a compact solid at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, which governs the orbits of stars, for which a black hole is the only currently known explanation.

As is customary, the announcement was made at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. The chemistry, literature and peace prizes will be awarded later this week, and the economics prize will be awarded next Monday. The prize, 10 million Swedish krona ($1.12 million), will be half awarded to Penrose and the remainder will be shared by Genzel and Gehz.

The Nobel Prizes will be awarded this year in a virtual ceremony because of the pandemic.

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