Garik Israelian ( hy, Գարիկ Իսրայելյան, born 1963 or 1968) is an Armenian-Spanish astrophysicist and founder of the Starmus Festival. He and colleagues found the first observational evidence that supernova explosions are responsible for the formation of stellar-mass black holes.

Early life

Garik Israelian was born in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

in 1963 or 1968. He graduated from

Yerevan State University Yerevan State University (YSU; hy, Երևանի Պետական Համալսարան, ԵՊՀ, ''Yerevani Petakan Hamalsaran''), also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919 ...

in 1987 with a First Class Honors degree in Physics, and completed his PhD in 1992.Dr. Garik Israelian (bio)
Future Innovation Summit. Access 11 December 2022

Career

Since 1997, Israelian has worked at the Institute of Astrophysics, Canary Islands (IAC), and has also worked as a lecturer and researcher at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

;

Free University of Brussels University of Brussels may refer to several institutions in Brussels, Belgium: Current institutions * Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), a French-speaking university established as a separate entity in 1970 *Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), a D ...

; and

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

. Israelian has published over 500 articles. In 1999, he and colleagues found the first observational evidence, based on data from the

W. M. Keck Observatory The W. M. Keck Observatory is an astronomical observatory with two telescopes at an elevation of 4,145 meters (13,600 ft) near the summit of Mauna Kea in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Both telescopes have aperture primary mirrors, and when comp ...

, that supernova explosions are responsible for the formation of black holes. In 2001, he proposed the so-called "

Lithium-6 Naturally occurring lithium (3Li) is composed of two stable isotopes, lithium-6 and lithium-7, with the latter being far more abundant on Earth. Both of the natural isotopes have an unexpectedly low nuclear binding energy per nucleon ( for ...

test" to determine if a star has engulfed a planet or other gaseous or solid matter. In 2009, he and colleagues discovered that stars with planets, such as the sun, tend to have much less lithium.

Starsounds

In 2005, Garik Israelian compiled a library of acoustic sound waves produced within the bodies of stars. This research project inspired Dr. Israelian to join forces with astrophysicist

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and ...

to create a new festival that would bring the stars together with music, and so Starmus was born. The main concept of the "Starsounds" project was explained in the lecture of Dr. Israelian "Our Acoustic Universe" and published in the book ''50 Years of Man in Space'' (lectures of Starmus I, edited by Israelian and Brian May, 2014). In 2013, Brian May and

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...

used "Starsounds" in their composition "Supernovae". In 2016,

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

arranged some of Israelian's star recordings into a composition titled "Starsounds".

Starmus Festival

In 2011, Garik Israelian founded the Starmus Festival, an event about astronomy and music.

Awards

In 2010,

Michel Mayor Michel Gustave Édouard Mayor (; born 12 January 1942) is a Swiss astrophysicist and professor emeritus at the University of Geneva's Department of Astronomy. He formally retired in 2007, but remains active as a researcher at the Observatory o ...

, Garik Israelian, and Nuno Santos were awarded the Viktor Ambartsumian International Prize " r their important contribution in the study of relation between planetary systems and their host stars." In 2014, Israelian received The Canary Islands Gold Medal, awarded by the government of the Canary Islands. On 20 June 2016, the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

and the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function ...

officially renamed asteroid ''(21057) 1991 GJ8'' to ''Garik Israelian'' in honor of Israelian. The citation was written by astronomer Joel Parker and Queen guitarist Brian May, and presented by them at the Starmus Festival.

References

External links

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Israelian, Garik 1963 births Living people Scientists from Yerevan Armenian astrophysicists Armenian emigrants to Spain Spanish astrophysicists Yerevan State University alumni Spanish people of Armenian descent