Petr Horálek | |
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 Petr Horálek in January 2015 | |
| Born | (1986-07-21)July 21, 1986 (age 39) Pardubice, Czech Republic |
| Known for | Astrophotographer |
| Website | petrhoralek |
Petr Horálek (born July 21, 1986) is a Czechastrophotographer,popularizer of astronomy and an artist.
Horálek worked as avolunteer at thePardubice observatory from 1999–2010 and studiedtheoretical physics andastrophysics atMasaryk University inBrno (2007–2011). In 2011, he took upastrophotography.[1]
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 theEuropean Southern Observatory (ESO).[2] He focuses mostly on high-definitionfulldome andpanoramic images of the night sky over ESOobservatories.
Horálek is theCzech delegate of theInternational Dark Sky Association.[3] Since 2020 he has worked at the Institute of Physics inOpava.[4]
In 2012, he recorded a brightPerseidfireball on August 12, 2012, which was analyzed by P. Spurný at al. in a study published inAstronomy & Astrophysics magazine.[5] In 2016, he took images of thezodiacal light over the ESOLa Silla Observatory which revealed structures in thezodiacal band. His image was published in theESO Messenger 164 (June 2016)[6] as well as the ESO Picture of the Week[7][8]
Horálek's images have been used 40 times asNASA'sAstronomy Picture of the Day,[9]ESO Picture of the Week,[10] and Czech Astrophotography of the Month.[11] In October 2015 theInternational Astronomical Union named theasteroid (6822) 1986 UO after him with the permanent designation 6822 Horálek.
Asteroid6822 Horálek or (6822) 1986 UO was discovered byZdeňka Vavrová on October 28, 1986, atKleť Observatory, the Czech Republic. It is about 5 km wide asteroid orbiting the Sun in theMain asteroid belt withperihelion at 1.943AU andaphelion 3.235 AU from theSun[12]
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]
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