Outstanding scientific work in astronomy as well as for contribution to public appreciation of astronomy. Awarded to both French and non-French astronomers.
A golden medallion with an embossed image of Jules Janssen facing right in profile. To the right of his face is the text "J. JANSSEN DE L’INSTITUT". To the left is the engraver’s name (ALPHÉE DUBOIS) in smaller characters. Reverse : a crown of olive branches and stars; PRIX J.JANSSEN on the top; the laureate’s name and the year in the middle.
First award
1897; continuously awarded except for during the two World wars.
This annual prize is given to a professional French astronomer or to an astronomer of another nationality in recognition of astronomical work in general, or for services rendered to Astronomy.[1] The first recipient of the prize wasCamille Flammarion, the founder of the Société astronomique de France, in 1897. The prize has been continuously awarded since then with the exception of the two World Wars. Non-French recipients have come from various countries including theUnited States, theUnited Kingdom,Canada,Switzerland, theNetherlands,Germany,Belgium,Sweden,Italy,Spain,Hungary,India, the formerCzechoslovakia, and the formerSoviet Union.
It was established by the French astronomerPierre Jules César Janssen (known as Jules Janssen) during his tenure as president of SAF from 1895 to 1897.[2] Janssen announced the creation of the new prize at a meeting of the Société Astronomique de France on 2 December 1896.[3]
^Thomas Hockey (ed.),Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers (Cedar Falls, USA : Springer, 2014), p. 590.
^D. T. McAllister, Albert Abraham Michelson: The Man who Taught a World to Measure (China Lake, California, USA : Technical Information Department, Naval Weapons Center 1970), p. 23.
^"George Willis Ritchey – Celestial Photography."American Scientist, Vol. 54, Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society of North America, September 1942, p. 85.
^abcdefghijklmnopqrPrix et Médailles décernés par la Société depuis leur fondation "L'Astronomie", Société Astronomique de France, Paris, December 1983 (supplement), p. 344.
^Van der Kruit, Pieter C.Jan Hendrik Oort: Master of the Galactic System, Astrophysics and Space Science Library 459, 1st ed. ([Cham, Switzerland]: Springer, 2019), p. 635.
^Böhme, S. et al. eds.Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts, Vol. 18, Literature 1976, Part 2 (Berlin : Springer-Verlag, 1977), p. 40.
^Boland, Wilfried; van Woerden, Hugo, eds.Birth and Evolution of Massive Stars and Stellar Groups: Proceedings of a Symposium held in Dwingeloo, The Netherlands, 24–26 September 1984. Astrophysics and Space Science Library (Dordrecht : Springer Science & Business Media, 2012), p. 345.
^Ferraz-Mello, S. "Jean Kovalevsky (1929–2018)" Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy, 130, 2018, p. 81.
^Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts, Vol. 44, Literature, Part 2, 1987 p. 76.
^Harold G. Corwin, Lucette Bottinelli.The World of Galaxies: Proceedings of the Conference “Le Monde des Galaxies” Held 12–14 April 1988 at the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris in Honor of Gérard and Antoinette de Vaucouleurs on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday (New York : Springer Verlag, 2012), p. ix.
^"Bernard GUINOT". French Academy of Sciences. Archived fromthe original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved21 December 2014.
^Naval Research Laboratory, “1992 NRL Review” (Washington, D.C.: Naval Research Laboratory, 1992), p. 249.
^"Biographie". Pierre Mein’s personal website. Retrieved17 July 2022.
^"Luboš Perek". Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Retrieved13 July 2022.
^abVirginia Trimble, David A. Weintraub.The Sky Is for Everyone: Women Astronomers in Their Own Words (Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, 2022), p. 28.
^La médaille Janssen 1995L’Astronomie, Société Astronomique de France, Paris, July–August 1996, p.p. 201-202.
