Prof. Tanaka ( ISAS Professor Emeritus ) was awarded
the US Astronomical Society’s Rossi Prize along with Professor Andrew
C. Fabian of the UK.
Prof. Bruno Rossi is a pioneer in cosmic-ray research at the old Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, and is famous for leading rocket experiments
and discovering the first X-ray star (Scorpius X-1) in 1962.
The Rossi Prize was established by the US Astronomical Society in 1985
to honor the name of Prof. Rossi by commending those scientists who have
been particularly original in the field of high-energy astrophysics and
those who have remarkable career records. Previous winners of the award
include Rashid A. Sunyaev, Stirling A. Colgate, John A. Simpson, Gerald
Fishman, and Martin Rees among others.
Prof. Tanaka and Fabian were jointly awared the Rossi Prize this time
for their discovery of the fluorescent ferro bright line which spreads
out under a relative gravity-like red-shift. The phenomenon was observed
by the Japanese X-ray satellite ASCA in the power spectrum of the nucleus
of our Galaxy. Though this result was first seen by observation of the
active galactic nucleus called MCG-6-30-15, observations by ASCA following
this discovered the same phenomenon of a spreading ferro bright line in
other active galactic nucleii as well. This phenomonon is thought to influence
the black hole accretion disk of the common-law marriage, and the observation
of it strongly supports the theory that posits the existence of a giant
black hole in the center of the active galactic nucleus, and has made
a large contribution to the development of modern astrophysics. We are
delighted that the ASCA observation results have been so highly evaluated,
and send our hearty congratulations to the two winners.
