For a layman, his photographs are mysterious and beautiful, for experts extremely scientifically valuable. Whether the images of the solar corona speak to you in one way or another, one thing is certain: Professor Miloslav Druckmüller has changed our view of the Sun. Thanks to his hobby and expertise, he created a unique method of photographing the solar corona and thus re-energized scientists' interest in studying the Sun through total eclipses. His story will be presented to the audience by the image by Helios, which will be broadcast by Czech Television on February 23.

"The sun is a living star that changes and interesting things happen on it," Miloslav Druckmüller says, a native of Brno, who first thought about studying physics, but eventually studied mathematics, which he also teaches at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Brno University of Technology. His father led him to take an interest in photography and astronomy. "I changed my mind about studying physics at the last minute, but mathematics is so universal that I finally got to it from the other side, precisely through mathematics," Druckmüller recalls.

Until recently, many scientists assumed that we would not learn much new about our nearest star through a solar eclipse. There was no way to capture the solar corona in sufficient detail. This was until Druckmüller's photographs amazed the international scientific community and captivated the public. "There is a large number of things hidden in the data that cannot be seen with the eyes without mathematical processing. I want to see what's going on in the Sun, and math allows me to do that,” Druckmüller explains. His beautiful, detailed images showed phenomena in the corona that scientists had no idea existed. Several times, they were selected by NASA as the Astronomical Image of the Day, appeared on the pages of prestigious scientific journals such as Nature and The Astronomical Journal, and became the basis for more than 50 scientific papers.

In the documentary Helios, the creators and Professor Druckmüller set out on an international expedition to Oregon in the summer of 2017 for a total solar eclipse. They talked to scientists, but also to ordinary people who wanted to enjoy an extraordinary celestial spectacle. "Our goal is to acquaint the public with the inspiring interest of Professor Druckmüller, who has made a major contribution to the renewal of international scientific interest in the use of solar eclipses in solar corona research. At the same time, we want to show that Czech science has a world-class level and we can rightly be proud of its representatives," the film producer Milan Kýr from cine4net, s.r.o. says.

Helios will also go to schools

Miloslav Druckmüller is one of the most popular teachers at his home faculty of mechanical engineering, and it is so convenient that the film Helios has ambitions to target schools as well. "We would like the film to reach schools in the form of screenings as soon as possible. Experts have prepared for us 15 lessons for secondary school pupils of the second degree and secondary school pupils, which teachers can download for free on the heliosmovie.eu website, including methodological support. Worksheets offer specific activities through which students can become familiar with phenomena such as the Moon's movement around the Earth, sunspots or the spectrum of sunlight," says Cyrus says, saying that the lessons can serve as accompanying material to the film Helios, but it is also possible to use them independently, without watching a movie.

The documentary Helios was created in a co-production of Czech Television, which will premiere on a television on Tuesday, February 23 at 8:55 pm on ČT2.