Contact:
Lynn Cominsky
HEAD Press Officer
lynnc@charmian.sonoma.edu
707-664-2655
March 15, 2002
Washington, D.C. -- The winner of the 2002 David N. Schramm Award for high-energy astrophysics science journalism proved to be more powerful than a locomotive with an article comparing Superman and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Robert Naeye captured top honors for an article he published in the journal California Wild, entitled "Superman's Telescope: The Achievements of Chandra."
The Schramm award is offered by the High Energy Astrophysics Division (HEAD) of the American Astronomical Society. Naeye, who is the editor of Mercury, the magazine of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, will receive the $1,000 cash prize and travel expenses to the HEAD scientific meeting in Albuquerque in April. He will be presented a plaque and, for the publisher of his article, a certificate honoring the work.
Naeye's article takes the reader through the history of X-ray astronomy, a world in which "photons punch right through normal mirror surfaces just like bullets zipping through Kleenex tissues," he wrote. The article also tells the tale of the Chandra X-ray Observatory: a 25-year saga in which the telescope fell victim of countless budget cuts and delays, yet, upon launch in 1999, now rivals the Hubble Space Telescope with its discovery potential.
"It's an honor to win this award, especially because it is named after one of the great physicists of our age," said Naeye, who is also the author of the book for junior high school students "Signals from Space: The Chandra X-ray Observatory," published by Raintree Steck-Vaughn in 2000. "I thank my editors at California Wild, Kathleen Wong and Keith Howell, and the thousands of people who made Chandra a reality, giving me such an exciting topic to write about."
The HEAD journalism award is named in memory of David Schramm of the University of Chicago, a world leader in theoretical astrophysics and a leading authority on the Big Bang model of the formation of the universe. He was killed in 1997 when the twin-engine plane he was piloting crashed outside of Denver. Schramm was dedicated to public outreach, and the newly created writing award that bears his name recognizes distinguished writing on high energy astrophysics that improves the general public's understanding in and appreciation of this exciting field of research.
California Wild is a quarterly magazine published by the California Academy of Sciences. Naeye's article appeared in the Summer 2001 issue and can be viewed online at
http://www.calacademy.org/calwild/summer2001/stories/chandra2sl.html.
HEAD presents the Schramm award every 18 months at its division meetings. Entries are judged by a committee of distinguished scientists and journalists selected by the HEAD Executive Committee. Information about the prize is available at http://www.aas.org/head/schramm/schramm.prize.html.