The Shaw Prize in Astronomy 2026 awarded to Ken’ichi Nomoto and Stanford Woosley

The Shaw Prize in Astronomy 2026 has been awarded in equal shares to Ken’ichi Nomoto of the University of Tokyo and Stanford Woosley of the University of California, Santa Cruz, for their fundamental studies of stellar explosions and the origin of the chemical elements.

Their work has shaped our understanding of the final stages of stellar evolution, the diverse mechanisms and observational signatures of supernovae, and the processes of nucleosynthesis through which new elements are formed. Supernovae are among the most energetic events in the Universe: they give rise to neutron stars and black holes, influence the evolution of galaxies, and produce many of the elements that form planets — and life.

The Shaw Prize recognises the crucial role of Nomoto’s and Woosley’s theoretical models in interpreting observations of stellar explosions and in explaining the chemical evolution of the Universe.

Source: https://iau.org/IAU/News/PR2026/Shaw-Prize-Laureates-2026.aspx