Solar Physics Division Announces Recipients of 2020 Hale & Harvey Prizes

This post is adapted from SPD press releases on the Hale & Harvey prizes:

The AAS Solar Physics Division (SPD), which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, has announced the 2020 winners of its two most prestigious scientific prizes. Kazunari Shibata (Kyoto University, Japan) is awarded the George Ellery Hale Prize for his outstanding work on the properties and behavior of magnetized solar and astrophysical plasmas. Hui Tian (Peking University, China) is awarded the Karen Harvey Prize for his ultraviolet and extreme-ultraviolet observations of the Sun and what they reveal about the dynamics of the solar atmosphere.

Shibata’s prodigious work over his distinguished career includes the discovery of jets in the solar atmosphere; the development of original theories and numerical simulations of solar jets, spicules, and mass ejections; and the discovery of super-flares on distant stars. His research embodies more than solar physics and has included studies of stellar magnetic activity and its impact on exoplanets. Shibata has played a significant role in the Japanese Yohkoh and Hinode solar observing satellites. He currently serves as the Director of the Kwasan and Hida observatories.

Tian’s significant work on small-scale persistent jets and short-lived ultraviolet bursts has motivated new theories of coronal heating and the solar wind. In addition, his work on sunspot dynamics has significantly improved our understanding of magnetic reconnection inside sunspots. Beyond his research, Tian has also established a new solar physics group at Peking University. He currently leads his research group there and mentors students ranging from undergraduates to postdoctoral researchers.

The Hale prize is awarded for outstanding contributions to solar astronomy over an extended period of time and is presented in memory of George Ellery Hale (1868-1938). The Harvey Prize recognizes a significant contribution to the study of the Sun early in a person’s professional career and honors the memory of Karen L. Harvey (1942-2002).