Kirsten Knudsen studies events that took place over 10 billion years ago. Among other things, she is looking at extremely bright, active cores in galaxies with central black holes that are growing very fast, known as quasars. Professor Knudsen is also studying the formation of galaxies using various observations and basic physical principles of light and energy.
“It's an incredible honour and very surprising to receive the prize. It's also great that the University of Gothenburg has chosen to recognise galaxy research,” says Kirsten Knudsen.
Her research is close to what is possible today – close to the limit of how far away or how far back in time you can see – which means that the research approaches deep existential questions and philosophy.
“It is difficult to grasp a time span of 13 billion years or the size of a galaxy such as the Milky Way, yet we humans try to do so. The sizes give perspective; what is important today may not be important in five billion years. Right after the big bang, there was only helium and hydrogen, but since then we have had more and more elements. So everything we have today comes from the stars,” says Kirsten Knudsen.
What is the biggest discovery you have made so far in your research?
“It was about 10 years ago when I was studying the galaxy A1689-zD1 and realised how much cosmic dust was there. The dust is important; it's left over from when stars form and the galaxy A1689-zD1 is a peephole to 13.2 billion years ago. We had to try to understand and explain how so much dust could have formed so close to the big bang. It is during the galaxy's youth phase that the most exciting things happen and that can provide clues to how the Milky Way was created,” says Kirsten Knudsen, who has researched astronomy for over 25 years.
The recipient of the Sixten Heyman Prize will give two lectures, one for students and staff and one for the general public and schoolchildren.
“I like to pass on knowledge. My goal is that you come home in the evening after a lecture with 2–3 new things,” says Kirsten Knudsen.
The 2025 prize money is approximately SEK 1,200,000 and will be presented by the University of Gothenburg at a ceremony this spring.
The motivation
Professor Kirsten Knudsen is awarded the 2025 Sixten Heyman Prize for her research on distant galaxies in the early universe. Her research has contributed to an understanding of how our world formed after the big bang 13.8 billion years ago. She studies events that took place over 10 billion years ago, including the study of quasars (quasi-stellar radio sources), extremely bright, active cores of galaxies with central black holes that grow very rapidly as they suck up huge amounts of matter from their surroundings. Another phenomenon Professor Knudsen has studied is the collision of two spiral galaxies. She studies the formation of galaxies by making many observations on different time scales, which are then integrated with theories, existing knowledge of galaxies and basic physical principles of light and energy to build general models. The research is very challenging, not least because the vast distances involved mean that it is approaching the point where it is not possible to look further away or back in time. It also means that the boundary with philosophy and deep existential questions is constantly present in the research.
