2002 Gruber Cosmology Prize       Vera Rubin   An observational astronomer, Dr. Vera Rubin helped establish the importance of dark matter in the universe through her pioneering use of new technologies and exploration of the rotation of spiral galaxies. Dr. Rubin and her researcher associates found direct observational evidence of galaxies that have captured, or merged with, another galaxy or gas cloud with independent dynamics, a finding that reinforces the current favored model of how galaxies form.

              Information given at time of the award