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The High Energy Astrophysics Division (HEAD) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) awards the Rossi Prize in recognition of significant contributions as well as recent and original work in high-energy astrophysics. 

NICER was launched into space on June 3, 2017, and installed on the International Space Station. It provides high-precision measurements of neutron stars, objects containing ultra-dense matter at the threshold of collapse into black holes.

The 2022 Rossi Prize citation reads: “To Keith Gendreau, Zaven Arzoumanian and the NICER team for development of the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) and the revolutionary insights it is providing about the extreme environments of neutron stars and black holes, including the first precise and reliable measurement of a pulsar’s mass and radius from detailed modeling of its pulsed waveform."

The team receiving the prize involves many researchers from the University of Amsterdam: Devarshi Choudhury, Geert Raaijmakers, Thomas Riley, Tuomo Salmi, Phil Uttley, Serena Vinciguerra and Anna Watts. In 2019, Anna Watts was awarded a large European grant to further develop her neutron star research.

The prize is in honor of Professor Bruno Rossi, an authority on cosmic ray physics and a pioneer in the field of X-ray astronomy. The Rossi Prize includes an engraved certificate and a $1,500 award and a lecture given at an upcoming AAS meeting.

Additional information on the Rossi Prize, including previous winners, can be found at:

http://www.aas.org/head/rossi/rossi.recip.html