for his conceiving and leading the Kepler Mission, which greatly advanced knowledge of both extrasolar planetary systems and stellar interiors.
The Shaw Prize in Astronomy for 2015 is awarded to William J Borucki for his conception and leadership of the Kepler Mission, which has greatly advanced knowledge of both extrasolar planetary systems and stellar interiors. He is the Principal Investigator of the Kepler Mission, NASA’s Ames Research Center.
In 1984, William J Borucki and Audrey Summers published a paper assessing the potential for detecting extrasolar planetary systems by transit photometry. The key concept is to simultaneously monitor the brightness of a large number of stars. Planets are revealed by the dips in brightness they produce when they pass in front of (transit) their host stars. Successive transits by a planet are spaced by its orbit period, which helps to distinguish transits from other sources of stellar variability. Transit depths determine the ratio of the planet’s surface area to that of its host star. William J Borucki and Audrey Summers emphasized that detection of Earth-size planets would require observations from above the atmosphere.
Thirty years ago, William Borucki and Audrey Summers published a paper assessing the potential for detecting extrasolar planetary systems by transit photometry. The key concept is to simultaneously monitor the brightness of a large number of stars with a high-precision photometer. Planets are revealed by the dips in brightness they produce when they pass in front of (transit) their host stars. Successive transits by a planet are spaced by its orbit period, which helps to distinguish transits from other sources of stellar variability. Transit depths determine the ratio of the planet’s surface area to that of its host star. Borucki and Summers emphasized that detection of Earth-size planets would require observations from above the atmosphere.
Subsequently, Borucki began a long quest to develop a suitable photometer and to convince the astronomical community and the US National Space and Aeronautics Administration (NASA) that a modest space mission could discover planets potentially capable of harbouring life. Four proposals submitted between 1992 and 1998 were rejected before the fifth was selected in December 2001 as Discovery Mission #10. Mission development began in 2002 and launch occurred in March 2009.
William J Borucki was born in 1939 in Chicago, USA and is the Principal Investigator for NASA’s Kepler Mission. He received a Master’s degree in Physics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1962 and a Master’s degree in Meteorology from San Jose State University, California in 1982. From 1962 until now, he has been working at NASA Ames Research Center as Space Scientist. Following his Master’s degree in Physics, he moved to Silicon Valley, where he first worked on the development of the heat shields for the Apollo mission in the Hypersonic Free Flight Branch at NASA Ames. After the successful moon landings, he transferred to the Theoretical Studies Branch where he investigated lightning activity in planetary atmospheres and developed mathematical models to predict the effects of nitric oxides and chlorofluoromethanes on Earth’s ozone layer. NASA’s Kepler Mission was launched in March 2009 to hunt for exoplanets using transit photometry.
