The Nobel Prize in Physics 2020 was jointly awarded to Roger Penrose, einhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez.
- Roger Penrose was awarded “for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity”, the other half jointly was awarded to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez “for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy.”
- Roger Penrose used ingenious mathematical methods in his proof that black holes are a direct consequence of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Einstein did not himself believe that black holes really exist, these super-heavyweight monsters that capture everything that enters them. Nothing can escape, not even light.
- Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez each lead a group of astronomers that, since the early 1990s, has focused on a region called Sagittarius A* at the centre of our galaxy. This region is known the be the home of a supermassive black hole.
