Herschel Medal
The Herschel Medal is awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society for "investigations of outstanding merit in observational astrophysics". It is awarded for a single piece of work so that younger scientists can be candidates for the award. It is named after the RAS's first president, William Herschel. The medal was first awarded in 1974. The medal has been shared twice, in 1977 and 1986. It has been awarded 22 times to a total of 24 people, mostly from the UK.
Medalists
Source:| Photo | Year | Medalist | Field | References |
| 1974 | John Paul Wild | Radio astronomy | ||
| 1977 | Arno Penzias Robert Woodrow Wilson | Discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation | ||
| 1980 | Gérard de Vaucouleurs | Galaxy classification and cataloging | ||
| 1983 | William W. Morgan | Stellar classification | ||
| 1986 | Albert Boggess Robert Wilson | Ultraviolet astronomy | ||
| 1989 | Jocelyn Bell Burnell | Pulsars | ||
| 1992 | Andrew Lyne | Radio astronomy | ||
| 1995 | George Isaak | Helioseismology | ||
| 1998 | Gerry Neugebauer | Infrared astronomy | ||
| 2001 | Patrick Thaddeus | Structure and distribution of molecular clouds | ||
| 2004 | Keith Horne | Cataclysmic variable stars and exoplanets | ||
| 2006 | Govind Swarup | Radio astronomy | - | |
| 2008 | Max Pettini | Extragalactic cosmology | ||
| 2010 | James H. Hough | Polarimetry | ||
| 2012 | Mike Irwin | Digital optical and infrared surveys | ||
| 2013 | Michael Kramer | Pulsars | ||
| 2014 | Reinhard Genzel | Galactic and Extragalactic astronomy | ||
| 2015 | Stephen Eales | Submillimetre astronomy | ||
| 2016 | James Dunlop | Galaxy formation | ||
| 2017 | Simon Lilly | Galaxy evolution | ||
| 2018 | Tom Marsh | Doppler Tomography | ||
| 2019 | Nial Tanvir | Studies of the Explosive Universe |