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A life of research
Born in Switzerland, he developed his career at Geneva Observatory. He studied stellar motions and helped create instruments capable of measuring exceptionally small changes in velocity.
Such precision makes it possible to detect a planet's influence on its star. Both objects orbit their shared centre of mass; although the planet remains unseen, it makes the star wobble slightly.
Understanding the contribution
In 1995 Mayor and Queloz announced 51 Pegasi b using observations from the ELODIE spectrograph in Haute-Provence. The giant planet circles its host star in approximately four days.
Finding a hot Jupiter so close to its star required scientists to reconsider models based only on our Solar System. This was not the first exoplanet of any kind: planets had already been discovered around a pulsar.