A New Zealand astrophysicist has been jointly awarded a $1 million prize for his fundamental work around the creation and consequences of black holes.
The University of Canterbury's Roy Kerr will be awarded the Crafoord Prize Royal from the Swedish Academy of Sciences, along with Stanford University's Roger Blandford for his research on black holes.
Worth six million Swedish krona, or a little more than $NZ1 million, the prize will be shared equally between the two scientists.
"Black holes are the origin of the universe's most powerful light, with rays that can stretch many thousands of light years out into space," the University of Canterbury said in a statement on Friday.
"Roy Kerr created one of the most important tools in modern astrophysics and cosmology early in his career, when he discovered a mathematical description of rotating black holes before anyone had even seen them."
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The Crafoord Prize award ceremony will be held at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on May 26, and will be presented in front of the king and queen of Sweden.
