University of Hawaii astronomer Brent Tully has been awarded a major prize for his role in understanding the structure and evolution of the nearby universe.

The Institute for Astronomy said Tuesday Tully is one of four recipients of the 2014 Gruber Foundation Cosmology Prize.

Tully is known for helping develop a way for astronomers to determine distances to galaxies. He has also published a catalog of nearby galaxies, which was the first major attempt to illustrate the three-dimensional distribution of galaxies.

He will share the $500,000 prize with Jaan Einasto of Tartu Observatory in Estonia, Kenneth Freeman of Australian National University and retired Canadian astronomer Sidney van den Bergh.

The prize will be presented to them at Yale University in October.