Riccardo Giacconi, 87, Explorer of the Universe Through X-Rays, Dies

Dec 15, 2018 701

BY: Dennis Overbye

Riccardo Giacconi, an astrophysicist who won the Nobel Prize for pioneering the study of the universe through the X-rays emitted by the most violent actors in the cosmos, including black holes, exploding stars and galumphing clouds of galaxies, died on Sunday in the La Jolla section of San Diego. He was 87. The National Academy of Sciences, of which he was a member, announced his death.

Dr. Giacconi was one of the great captains of Big Science, leaving lasting imprints on major astronomical institutions like the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which runs the Hubble Space Telescope, and the European Southern Observatory in Germany, where he oversaw the building of the largest telescope on Earth. He helped set the pattern for how large scientific projects are run today.

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SOURCE: https://www.nytimes.com/

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