astronomy

Petr Heinzel

Petr Heinzel is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Petr Heinzel rather than just read about it. In short: 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).

Key takeaways

Petr Heinzel belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Petr Heinzel to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Petr Heinzel from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

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.

Personal life Heinzel was born on 9 November 1950 in Náchod. 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.

Academic background 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.

Research field 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

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

Teacher occupations Petr Heinzel teaches stellar atmospheres theory and solar physics at Charles University. 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.

Awards 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.

Publications

Scientific papers Since 1975, Petr Heinzel has published more than 130 scientific papers, which have received more than 2,000 citations. His Hirsch index has reached 40.

Books Petr Heinzel coauthored multiple books discussing solar physics:

Solar Coronal Structures (1994, coauthored with V. Rušin and J.-C. Vial) The Physics of Chromospheric Plasmas (2007, Astronomical Society of the pacific, coauthored with I. Dorotovič and R. J. Rutten) Solar and Stellar Flares and Their Effects on Planets (2016, Cambridge University Press, coauthored with A. Kosovichev and S. Hawley) Solar and Stellar Flares (2017, Springer Netherlands, coauthored with Lyndsay Fletcher)

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Petr Heinzel

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Petr Heinzel claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Petr Heinzel before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Petr Heinzel ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Petr Heinzel

In research: Petr Heinzel appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Petr Heinzel in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Petr Heinzel is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1950 births, Charles University alumni, Czech academics, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Petr Heinzel outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Petr Heinzel in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Petr Heinzel means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Petr Heinzel out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Petr Heinzel in simple terms?

Why does Petr Heinzel matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Petr Heinzel?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Petr Heinzel.