Lenka Kotková facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lenka Kotková (née Šarounová)
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Lenka Kotková at the Ondřejov Observatory
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| Born | 26 July 1973 Dobřichovice, Czechoslovakia
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| Nationality | Czech |
| Alma mater | Charles University of Prague |
| Known for | discoverer of minor planets |
| Awards | Cena Zdeňka Kvíze |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomer |
| Institutions | Astronomical Institute AV ČR in Ondřejov |
| see § List of discovered minor planets |
Lenka Kotková (born on July 26, 1973) is a famous Czech astronomer. An astronomer is a scientist who studies everything outside of Earth's atmosphere, like stars, planets, and galaxies. Lenka is especially known for finding many minor planets. Minor planets are small objects in space that orbit the Sun, like asteroids.
She works at the Observatoř Ondřejov (Ondřejov Observatory), which is a special place for studying space near Prague. Lenka has discovered many asteroids that are in the main-belt between Mars and Jupiter. She also found a Mars-crosser asteroid called 9671 Hemera, which means it crosses Mars's orbit. Another one she found is 21804 Václavneumann, which belongs to the Hilda family of asteroids.
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Lenka's Journey in Astronomy
Lenka Kotková studied meteorology at Charles University in Prague. Meteorology is the study of weather and the Earth's atmosphere. Even though she studied weather, she became a space expert!
At the Astronomical Institute in Ondřejov, her work involves several cool things:
- She helps create and manage special computer databases for space information.
- She uses tools to observe objects in space. This includes spectroscopy, which helps scientists learn what distant objects are made of by looking at their light.
- She also does photometry, which measures how bright objects in space are. This helps understand their size and how far away they are.
- She processes all the data collected from these observations.
For a while, Lenka focused on studying objects in space that are close to Earth. She worked with other astronomers, Petr Pravec and Peter Kušnirák. Together, they found many binary asteroids. A binary asteroid is actually two asteroids orbiting each other! During this time, she discovered or helped discover over one hundred asteroids.
Today, Lenka works in the stellar department at the observatory. She uses a large two-meter telescope at Ondřejov to observe stars.
Awards and Named Asteroids
In the year 2000, Lenka received the Zdeněk Kvíz Award. This award is given by the Czech Astronomical Society for important work in studying variable stars. Variable stars are stars whose brightness changes over time.
Some asteroids have even been named after Lenka and her family!
- The asteroid 10390 Lenka was named after her by her colleagues Petr Pravec and Marek Wolf in 1997.
- She discovered 60001 Adélka in 1999 and named it after her daughter.
- She also discovered 7897 Bohuška in 1995 and named it after her mother.
List of Discovered Minor Planets
Lenka Kotková has discovered a total of 258 minor planets! This is a huge achievement in astronomy. Some of her notable discoveries include:
- 9671 Hemera (a Mars-crosser asteroid)
- 21804 Václavneumann (a Hilda family asteroid)
- 60001 Adélka (named after her daughter)
- 7897 Bohuška (named after her mother)
- 10390 Lenka (named after her, though discovered by others)
She often worked with other astronomers to make these discoveries, including Petr Pravec, Marek Wolf, Peter Kušnirák, Jean Montanne, Ales Kolář, and Luděk Vašta.
See also
In Spanish: Lenka Šarounová para niños
