ASP Awards Nominations closed on Sunday, March 24, 8:59pm PT
Each select award given in 2024 is briefly described below with a link to Award Details, Submission Guidelines and a link to Submit. The submission deadline is now permanently March 15 of each year (unless an extension has been announced).
About the ASP Awards
The ASP recognizes individual achievements in astronomy research, technology, education, and public outreach each year. Recipients of our awards have included luminaries such as Edwin Hubble, Vera Rubin, Isaac Asimov, Margaret Burbidge, Carl Sagan, and most recently, Katherine Johnson.
The nomination process typically begins in January and nominations are due by March 15 (subject to change). Awardees are notified in early Summer followed by a Press Release in the late Summer. Our annual Awards Gala, typically in person, is held in the late Fall each year to celebrate the accomplishments of each award recipient.
2024 Awards details, guidelines, and submission dates are listed below
Professional Awards:
Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal
Awarded since 1898 for a lifetime of outstanding research in astronomy
Our highest award is the Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal, awarded for a lifetime of outstanding research in astronomy and has gone to some of the greatest astronomers of the past century.
The next Bruce Gold Medal will be awarded in 2024.
Award Details and Nomination Guidelines
Maria and Eric Muhlmann Award
For important research results based upon development of groundbreaking instruments and techniques
The Maria and Eric Muhlmann Award is given for recent significant observational results made possible by innovative advances in astronomical instrumentation, software, or observational infrastructure.
The next Muhlmann Award will be given in 2024.
Award Details and Nomination Guidelines
Robert J. Trumpler Award
For a recent PhD thesis considered unusually important to astronomy
The Robert J. Trumpler Award is given each year to a recent recipient of the PhD degree in North America whose research is considered unusually important to astronomy. (Due to COVID, two Trumpler Awards were given in 2021, one for 2020, and one for 2021.)
The next Trumpler Award will be given in 2024.
Award Details and Nomination Guidelines
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Awards
Nancy Grace Roman Award
For significant contributions to promoting gender equity and inclusion in astronomy and related fields
Inaugurated in 2023, the new Nancy Grace Roman Award celebrates the achievements of individuals, groups, or organizations working to encourage participation in astronomy and related fields by people traditionally or currently excluded from these fields because of their gender, including girls, women, and transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people.
The Nancy Grace Roman Award was innaugurated in 2023 and will next be awarded in 2025.
Award Details and Nomination Guidelines
Arthur B.C. Walker II Award
The Arthur B.C. Walker II Award is presented to an outstanding African American (or member of the African Diaspora) who works in the areas of astronomy (including astronomy, astrophysics, space, and related sciences) as a recognized leader in efforts to diversify the scientific community.
The Walker Award will be given in 2024.
Award Details and Nomination Guidelines
Amateur Astronomy Awards
Gordon Myers Amateur Achievement Award
For significant observational or technical achievements by an amateur astronomer
The newly named Gordon Myers Amateur Achievement Award recognizes significant observational or technological contributions to astronomy or amateur astronomy by an individual not employed in the field of astronomy in a professional capacity.
The last Myers Award was given in 2023.
Award Details and Nomination Guidelines
Las Cumbres Amateur Outreach Award
For outstanding outreach by an amateur astronomer to children and the public
The Las Cumbres Amateur Outreach Award, given for the first time in 2001, seeks to honor outstanding educational outreach by an amateur astronomer to K-12 children and the interested lay public.
The Las Cumbres Awards will be given in 2024.
Award Details and Nomination Guidelines
Outreach Award
Klumpke-Roberts Award
For outstanding contributions to the public understanding and appreciation of astronomy
The ASP bestows the Klumpke-Roberts Award on those who have made outstanding contributions to the public understanding and appreciation of astronomy. Awardees include Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, Chesley Bonestall, Timothy Ferris, Walter Sullivan, Heidi Hammel, and the staffs of Sky & Telescope and Astronomy magazines.
The next Klumpke-Roberts Award will be given in 2024.
Award Details and Nomination Guidelines
Education Awards
Thomas J. Brennan Award
For exceptional achievement related to the teaching of astronomy at the high school level
The Thomas J. Brennan Award recognizes excellence in the teaching of astronomy at the high school level in North America. The recipients have demonstrated exceptional commitment to classroom or planetarium education, as well as the training of other teachers.
The last Brennan Award was given in 2021.
Award Details and Nomination Guidelines
Richard H. Emmons Award
For excellence in college astronomy teaching
Added to our list of honors in 2006, the Richard H. Emmons Award was inspired by a very generous gift from Jeanne and Allan Bishop, in honor of her father, Richard Emmons. Dr. Jeanne Bishop, a well-known astronomy educator in her own right, wished to honor her father, an astronomer with a lifelong dedication to astronomy education, by creating an award that recognizes and celebrates outstanding achievement in the teaching of college-level introductory astronomy for non-science majors.
The Emmons Award will be given in 2024.
Award Details and Nomination Guidelines
Customer Support:
If you any questions about the nomination process, submitted nominations or letters of support, have questions, or if you need to update any forms, please contact us at awards@astrosociety.org.
