Petr Heinzel (born 9 November 1950) is a Czech astronomer and professor who is specialized in solar physics. From 2004 to 2012, he was director of the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (AV ČR). In 2012 he was appointed Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Charles University, Czech Republic. Since 2017, he is chair of the Czech Astronomical Society. He is also a member of the International Astronomical Union.

Prof.
Petr Heinzel
Dr Sc
Petr Heinzel, newly elected chairman of the Czech Astronomical Society in 2017, gave a speech during the company's congress
Petr Heinzel in 2017
Born (1950-11-09) 9 November 1950 (age 74)
NationalityCzech
OccupationChairman of the Czech Astronomical Society (2017–)
AwardsNušl Prize (2014) awarded by the Czech Academy of Sciences
Academic background
Alma materCharles University, Czech Republic
Academic work
DisciplineAstrophysics
Sub-disciplineSolar physics
Main interestsStellar atmospheres, radiation hydrodynamics, solar flares
Notable worksSolar and Stellar Flares (2017)

Personal life

edit

Heinzel was born on 9 November 1950 in Náchod.[1]

His hobby is classical music. He plays the violin and performs with other astronomers at the Ondřejov Observatory and at national or international astronomical events in the Czech Republic.[2]

Academic background

edit

Petr Heinzel graduated in 1974 from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University in Prague. In 1982, he received a PhD in Astrophysics and in 1993 became Doctor of Science in Astrophysics.[3]

Research field

edit

Petr Heinzel's area of research is Solar physics. He has conducted research on solar flares, solar prominences, coronal loops, chromosphere structure and radiative transfer in stellar atmospheres. He has achieved significant scientific contributions in radiation hydrodynamics of stellar atmospheres, as well as in the spectral analysis of astrophysical plasma[4][5]

Academic and scientific career

edit

He started working at the Astronomical Institute of AV ČR at Ondřejov after graduating in 1974. There he became the head of the solar department, a position he held until 2004.

From 1987 to 1995, he was associate scientist in the SOHO/SUMER team, that developed a VUV telescope and spectrometer (project SUMER, for Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation) at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Lindau, Germany, to operate on board of the ESA/NASA spacecraft Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), which was launched in December 1995[6]

In July 2004, Petr Heinzel became director of the Astronomical Institute of AV ČR. He kept his position in 2007, when the institute was transformed into a public research institution, and remained in office until 2012.

In 2012, Petr Heinzel was appointed Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Department of Astronomy, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University. He had been Associate Professor since 2005.[7]

On 2 April 2017, Petr Heinzel was elected Chair of the Czech Astronomical Society.

Teacher occupations

edit

Petr Heinzel teaches stellar atmospheres theory and solar physics at Charles University.[8] Abroad, he is an external lecturer at Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia and at the University of Wrocław, Poland.

He has been a member of the Supervisory Board for PhD students at Charles University, and a supervisor of PhD students at Charles University, Comenius University, the University of Wrocław, Moscow State University and Cairo University.

He has also been a visiting professor at the Université de Paris (Orsay), Observatoire de Meudon, France, at the University of Wrocław, Poland and at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching, Germany.[9]

Awards

edit

In 2003, Petr Heinzel received an award from the Czech Academy of Sciences for the analysis of spectral data of hydrogen of the solar atmosphere obtained by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).

In 2009, he received the Gold Medal of the University of Wrocław for long-term cooperation and in recognition of his scientific results.

Petr Heinzel was laureate for 2014 of the Nušl Prize awarded by the Czech Academy of Sciences. The award was presented by the Chairman of the Czech Astronomical Society of the time Jan Vondrak, Dr Sc.[10][11]

Publications

edit

Scientific papers

edit

Since 1975, Petr Heinzel has published more than 130 scientific papers, which have received more than 2,000 citations. His Hirsch index has reached 26.[12]

Books

edit

Petr Heinzel coauthored multiple books discussing solar physics:[13]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Laudatio při udělení Nušlovy ceny prof. Petru Heinzelovi" (PDF). Pokroky matematiky, fyziky a astronomie (in Czech). 1. Institute of Mathematics of the Czech Academy of Sciences: 81–82. 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  2. ^ "Petr Heinzel" (in Czech). Česká astronomická společnost. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Heinzel Petr :: Hvězdárna Františka Pešty - Sezimovo Ústí". www.hvezdarna-fp.eu. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Petr Heinzel". www1.asu.cas.cz. Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  5. ^ společnost, Česká astronomická. "Petr Heinzel". ČAS (in Czech). Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  6. ^ "SUMER Homepage". mps.mpg.de. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Heinzel Petr :: Hvězdárna Františka Pešty - Sezimovo Ústí". www.hvezdarna-fp.eu. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  8. ^ "prof. RNDr. Petr Heinzel, DrSc". mff.cuni.cz. Faculty of Mathematics and Physics. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  9. ^ společnost, Česká astronomická. "Petr Heinzel". ČAS (in Czech). Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Heinzel Petr :: Hvězdárna Františka Pešty - Sezimovo Ústí". www.hvezdarna-fp.eu. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Infos du jour". Radio Prague International (in French). 13 December 2014. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  12. ^ "Infos du jour" (in French). Czech Radio. 13 December 2014. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Petr Heinzel Books - List of books by Petr Heinzel". allbookstores.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  14. ^ International Astronomical Union (1994). Solar coronal structures : proceedings of the 144th Colloquium of the International Astronomical Union held in Tatranská Lomnica, Slovakia, 20–24 September 1993, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Skalnaté Pleso Observatory. Tatranská Lomnica, The Slovak Republic: Veda Publishing House of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. ISBN 978-80-224-0090-9. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  15. ^ "The Physics of Chomospheric Plasma". researchgate.net. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  16. ^ Shibata, Kazunari (August 2015). "Solar and stellar flares and their impact on planets". Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union. 11 (S320): 3–24. doi:10.1017/S1743921316006323. ISSN 1743-9213.
  17. ^ Fletcher, Lyndsay; Heinzel, Petr, eds. (2017). Solar and Stellar Flares: Observations, Simulations, and Synergies. Springer Netherlands. ISBN 978-94-024-0934-5. Archived from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2021.