An Australian National University scientist is one of three people to jointly receive the 2011 Nobel physics prize.
US-born Brian P Schmidt is head of the High-z Supernova Search Team at ANU.
Together with Saul Perlmutter and Adam G Riess, both of the US, he won the prize for a study of exploding stars that discovered the expansion of the universe is accelerating.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded Perlmutter half of the 10 million kronor (US$1.5m) prize, while Schmidt and Riess will share the other half.
Their discoveries “have helped to unveil a universe that to a large extent is unknown to science,” said an academy news release.
In a speech to the Nobel committee from Australia during the ceremony, Schmidt said: “It feels like when my children were born.
“I feel weak at the knees, very excited and somewhat amazed by the situation. It’s been a pretty exciting last half hour.”
In 2006, the same trio shared the Shaw prize in astronomy for their findings.