Janssen Medal (French Academy of Sciences)

The Janssen Medal is an astrophysics award presented by the French Academy of Sciences to those who have made advances in this area of science. Les Prix Thematiques en Sciences de l'Univers , French Academy of Sciences website, accessed 23 January 2011

The award was founded in 1886, though the first medal was not awarded until a year later. The commission formed to decide on the first recipient of the medal selected the German physicist Gustav Kirchhoff for his work on the science of spectroscopy. However, Kirchhoff died aged 63 on 17 October 1887, a few months before the award would have been announced. Rather than choosing a new recipient for the award, the commission announced at the academy's session of 26 December 1887 that the inaugural medal would be placed on his grave, in "supreme honour of the memory of this great scholar of Heidelberg". Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences (1887), pp.1322–1323. The French phrase partially translated here is: "L'Académie voudra donner à la mémoire du grand savant d'Heidelberg ce suprême hommage, qui sera une première consécration de sa gloire et une consolation pour sa famille."

The award had been intended to be biennial, but was awarded in 1888 and again in 1889. A statement in the 1889 volume of Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences clarified that the award would be presented annually for the first seven years, and then biennially from 1894 onwards. Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences (1889), pp.1095–1096

This award is distinct from the Prix Jules Janssen (created in 1897), an annual award presented by the French Astronomical Society. Both awards are named for the French astronomer Pierre Janssen (1824–1907) (better known as Jules Janssen). Janssen founded the academy award, and was a member of the inaugural commission.

Laureates 1887 – Gustav Kirchhoff This gives all the Janssen Medal awards between 1887 and 1912 that were known to US astronomer Ralph E. Wilson (1886–1960) the author of the note. (posthumously) 1888 – William Huggins 1889 – Norman Lockyer 1890 – Charles Augustus Young The Janssen Medal award is mentioned on page 229. 1891 – Georges Rayet 1892 – Pietro Tacchini The Janssen Medal award is mentioned on page 308. 1893 – Samuel Pierpont LangleyAward of the JANSSEN Prize to Dr. LANGLEY, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 6 (1894), No. 34, p.66 1894 – George Ellery Hale 1896 – Henri Deslandres 1898 – Aristarkh Belopolsky 1900 – Edward Emerson Barnard 1902 – Aymar de la Baume Pluvinel 1904 – Aleksey Pavlovitch Hansky 1905 – Gaston Millochau (silver-gilt award)The 1905 statement in Comptes rendus relating to this award stated that the gold medal award would be made in 1906, but that an award of a silver medal would be made in 1905 to Gaston Millochau. See the 1905 volumes of Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences. 1906 – Annibale Ricco 1908 – Pierre Puiseux 1910 – William Wallace Campbell 1912 – Alfred Perot 1914 – René Jarry-Desloges 1916 – Charles FabryGeneral Notes, Popular Astronomy, Vol. 25, 1917, p.214-216. The Janssen Medal is mentioned on page 215, along with a note about two silver medals awarded to Fabry's colleagues at the Marseilles Observatory, Henri Buisson and Henry Bourget. 1918 – Stanislas ChevalierThe citations for all these recipients are located in the corresponding issue of Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences for the year of the award. 1920 – William CoblentzGeneral Notes, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 33, No. 192, pp.120–122 (1921). The reference to the Janssen Medal is on page 122. 1922 – Carl StørmerNotes, Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, December 1922 issue, pp.476–478 1924 – George Willis RitcheyGeneral Notes, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 36, No. 214, pp.360–363 (1924). The reference to the Janssen Medal is on page 362. 1926 – Francisco Miranda da Costa Lobo 1928 – William Hammond WrightWilliam Hammond Wright, 1871–1959, Paul W. Merril, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 71 (1959), No. 421, p.305 1930 – Bernard Ferdinand Lyot 1932 – Alexandre Dauvillier 1934 – Walter Sydney AdamsWalter S. Adams, 1876–1956, F. J. M. Stratton, The Observatory, Vol. 76, p. 139-140 (1956) 1936 – Henry Norris RussellRUSSELL, Henry Norris, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007, accessed 23 January 2011 1938 – Bertil Lindblad 1940 – Harlow Shapley 1943 – Lucien Henri d'Azambuja 1944 – Jean Rösch 1946 – Jan Hendrik Oort 1949 – Daniel Chalonge 1952 – André Couder 1955 – Otto StruveGeneral Notes, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 68, No. 400, pp.84–85 (1956) 1958 – André Lallemand 1961 – Pol Swings Pol Swings – Curriculum Vitae , Fondation Francqui-Stichting website, accessed 24 January 2011 1964 – Jean-François Denisse Jean-François Denisse , French Academy of Sciences website, accessed 23 January 2011 1967 – Bengt StrömgrenStrömgren, Bengt Georg Daniel, Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography (2008), retrieved 26 January 2011 from Encyclopedia.com 1970 – Gérard Wlérick Gérard Wlérick , French Academy of Sciences website, accessed 28 January 2011 1973 – Lucienne DevanComptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences: Sciences mathématiques, Volume 277, page 128 (1973) (silver-gilt award)The Comptes rendus citation refers to the award as a "médaille en vermeil" – i.e. the award was not a full gold medal. 1976 – Paul LedouxPaul Ledoux (1914–1988), A. Noels, The Messenger, vol. 54, p.10 (1988) 1979 – Jean DelhayeJ. Delhaye received the Prix Jules-César Janssen, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Vie Acad., Tome 289, p. 95 (1979) 1982 – Georges MichaudObservatory Reports: Université de Montréal, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 16, p.246 (1984) 1985 – Pierre Lacroute, Copied pages listing Janssen Medal winners (in French) 1988 – Lodewijk Woltjer. Lodewijk Woltjer, French Academy of Sciences website, accessed 23 January 2011 1990 – Pierre Charvin, Copied pages listing Janssen Medal winners (in French) 1992 – Henk C. Van de Hulst, Copied pages listing Janssen Medal winners (in French) 1994 – Serge KoutchmySerge Koutchmy received la médaille Janssen, C. R. Acad. Sci., Sér. Gén., Vie Sci., Tome 11, No. 5, p. 412 (1994) 1999 – Jean-Marie Mariotti 2003 – Gilbert Vedrenne 2007 – Bernard Fort Laureats des Prix de l'Academie des Sciences en 2007 , French Academy of Sciences website, accessed 23 January 2011 2011 – Francois Mignard Francois Mignard , French Academy of Sciences website, accessed 03/05/2012 2019 – Eric Hosy

The list above is complete up to 2019.

See also

List of astronomy awards

References

External links Les Prix Thematiques en Sciences de l'Univers, includes a description of the Janssen Medal (French Academy of Sciences) Article and photograph on the presentation of the 2007 award to Bernard Fort (Paris Institute of Astrophysics)