Petr Horálek
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Petr Horálek
| image = Petr horalek.jpg
| alt = Head photo of Petr Horálek
| caption = Petr Horálek in January 2015
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1986|07|21}}
| birth_place = Pardubice, Czech Republic
| nationality = Czech
| known_for = Astrophotographer
| website = {{URL|petrhoralek.com}}
}}
Petr Horálek (born July 21, 1986) is a Czech astrophotographer, popularizer of astronomy and an artist.
Astronomy and astrophotography
= Early life =
Horálek worked as a volunteer at the Pardubice observatory from 1999–2010 and studied theoretical physics and astrophysics at Masaryk University in Brno (2007–2011). In 2011, he took up astrophotography.{{Cite web|url=https://www.eso.org/public/blog/photographer-in-the-dark/|title=ESOblog – Photographer in the dark|website=www.eso.org|language=en-EN|access-date=2017-05-24}}
= Astrophotography =
Horálek specializes in photographing rare night-sky phenomena and photographs with the night sky over terrestrial foregrounds. In January 2015, he became the 22nd Photo Ambassador of the European Southern Observatory (ESO).{{Cite web|url=http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/partnerships/photo-ambassadors/|title=ESO Photo Ambassadors|last=ESO|website=www.eso.org|language=en|access-date=2017-05-24}} He focuses mostly on high-definition fulldome and panoramic images of the night sky over ESO observatories.
Horálek is the Czech delegate of the International Dark Sky Association.{{Cite web |title=TWAN {{!}} Petr Horálek |url=https://twanight.org/profile/horalek |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=TWAN}} Since 2020 he has worked at the Institute of Physics in Opava.{{Cite web |title=Home / Institute of Physics in Opava |url=https://www.slu.cz/phys/en/ |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=slu.cz}}
In 2012, he recorded a bright Perseid fireball on August 12, 2012, which was analyzed by P. Spurný at al. in a study published in Astronomy & Astrophysics magazine.{{Cite journal|last1=Spurný|first1=Pavel|last2=Shrbený|first2=Lukáš|last3=Borovička|first3=Jiří|last4=Koten|first4=Pavel|last5=Vojáček|first5=Vlastimil|last6=Štork|first6=Rostislav|date=March 1, 2014|title=Bright Perseid fireball with exceptional beginning height of 170 km observed by different techniques|url=https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2014/03/aa23261-13/aa23261-13.html|journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics|language=en|volume=563|pages=A64|doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201323261|bibcode=2014A&A...563A..64S |issn=0004-6361|doi-access=free}} In 2016, he took images of the zodiacal light over the ESO La Silla Observatory which revealed structures in the zodiacal band. His image was published in the ESO Messenger 164 (June 2016){{Cite web|url=https://www.eso.org/sci/publications/messenger/toc.html?v=164&m=Jun&y=16|title=The ESO Messenger, Vol. 164|last=ESO|website=www.eso.org|language=de|access-date=2017-05-24}} as well as the ESO Picture of the Week{{Cite web|url=https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1707a/|title=False dawn|last=ESO|website=www.eso.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-05-24}}{{Cite web|title=From Gegenschein to False dawn {{!}} Petr Horálek's Photography|url=https://www.petrhoralek.com/?p=2351|access-date=2017-05-24|website=www.petrhoralek.com| date=May 13, 2016 |language=cs-CZ}}
{{Wide image|False Dawn.jpg|900px|The zodiacal light over ESO La Silla Observatory, captured by Petr Horálek in April 2016||alt=zodiacal light horalek}}
= Awards =
Horálek's images have been used 40 times as NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day,{{Cite web|title=Awards {{!}} Petr Horálek's Photography|url=https://www.petrhoralek.com/?page_id=771|access-date=2017-05-24|website=www.petrhoralek.com| date=September 9, 2014 |language=cs-CZ}} ESO Picture of the Week,{{Cite web|url=https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw/|title=Picture of the Week|last=ESO|website=www.eso.org|language=en|access-date=2017-05-24}} and Czech Astrophotography of the Month.{{Cite news|url=http://www.astro.cz/fotogalerie/ceska-astrofotografie-mesice.html|title=Czech Astrophotography of the Month|last=Czech Astronomical Society|first=Česká astronomická|work=ČAS|access-date=2017-05-24|language=cs}} In October 2015 the International Astronomical Union named the asteroid (6822) 1986 UO after him with the permanent designation 6822 Horálek.
Asteroid 6822 Horálek
Asteroid 6822 Horálek or (6822) 1986 UO was discovered by Zdeňka Vavrová on October 28, 1986, at Kleť Observatory, the Czech Republic. It is about 5 km wide asteroid orbiting the Sun in the Main asteroid belt with perihelion at 1.943 AU and aphelion 3.235 AU from the Sun{{Cite web|url=http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?utf8=%E2%9C%93&object_id=6822|title=IAU Minor Planet Center|website=www.minorplanetcenter.net|access-date=2017-05-24}}
= MPC Citation for 6822 Horálek =
Petr Horálek (b. 1986) is a Czech astronomer, astronomy popularizer, passionate photographer, and one of the ESO Photo Ambassadors. He travels the globe to observe solar and lunar eclipses. His breathtaking photographs capture the beauty of the night sky and its harmony with the landscape. [Ref: Minor Planet Circ. 95803]
References
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External links
{{Commons}}
- [https://www.eso.org/public/images/?search=%22P.+Hor%22 Petr Horálek's images in ESO archive]
- [https://www.petrhoralek.com Petr Horálek's official website]
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