Riccardo Giacconi (Credit: Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting)
ICRAR is saddened to hear to the passing of Professor Riccardo Giacconi on the 9th of December. Prof. Giacconi had a huge influence on modern astronomy and astrophysics through his leadership and contribution to X-ray astronomy, the Hubble Space Telescope, the ESO VLT and the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA). Many of these groundbreaking facilities, now at the core of international astronomy capabilities, would not have to come to fruition without Prof. Giacconi’s insights and energy. The magnitude of his achievements and contributions was recognised internationally when he won the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Several staff at ICRAR were lucky enough to have worked with Riccardo over the past 30 years and we all carry many of the lessons we learned from him as we engage in new projects to grow international astronomical capabilities. Riccardo is survived by his wife Mirella, daughters Anna and Guia, and grandchildren Alexandra and Colburn.
