PRESS RELEASE

AWARD CEREMONY FOR THE JULES JANSSEN PRIZE

Professor Bruno Sicardy winner of the Jules Janssen Prize 2023

Paris, March 14 2024 – The Société Astronomique de France (the French Astronomical Society – SAF) will award its prestigious international astronomy prize – the Jules Janssen Prize – to Professor Bruno Sicardy (France) for his scientific achievements, and the co-discovery of Neptune rings. The medal will be presented to Professor Sicardy by Professor Sylvain Bouley, President of the Société astronomique de France on Wednesday April 10, 2024. The ceremony will take place at CNAM (292, rue St Martin Paris 3rd Amphi Abbé Grégoire, free admission and with registration) at 7:00 p.m.

The famous astronomer Jules Janssen (1824-1907), who served as SAF’s president between 1895 and 1897, created a number of awards, including the Jules Janssen Prize that has been awarded annually by SAF since 1897. This prize is alternatively given to a French astronomer and a foreign astronomer for outstanding scientific work as well as for their contribution to public appreciation of astronomy. Previous recipients include, among others, Percival Lowell (1904), Max Wolf (1912), Arthur Stanley Eddington (1928), Robert Esnault-Pelterie (1930), Albert Einstein (1931), Michel Mayor (1998), Thérèse Encrenaz (2007), Catherine Cesarsky (2009), Françoise Combes (2017), Hubert Reeves (2019), Ewine van Dishoeck (2020).

In 1984, a French team composed of André Brahic, Françoise Roques and Bruno Sicardy co-discovered the rings of Neptune during a stellar occultation observed simultaneously from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) at La Silla, and from Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory (CTIO) by the team of American professor William Hubbard.

Sicardy then devoted most of his work to the observation and study of the dynamics of planetary rings and atmospheres, as well as the dynamics of protoplanetary disks. He defended his thesis, entitled Observational, analytical and numerical study of planetary environments: applications to the rings of Saturn and Uranus and the arcs of Neptune, at Paris 7 in 1988 under the direction of André Brahic. He is also co-discoverer of the following rings around small bodies in the solar system: Chariklo (2013), Haumea (2017) and Quaoar (2022).

Asteroid (6280) Sicardy was named in his honor. He was awarded the 2019 Paul Doisteau-Emile Blutet prize from the Academy of Sciences, during a ceremony held at the Institut de France, on October 15, 2019.

Full list of recipients of the Jules Janssen Prize