News

A study on the rotation of the Earth’s solid core confuses the media. Scientists of the Royal Observatory of Belgium clarify it

An article in Nature Geoscience on the rotation of the Earth’s core (more precisely its solid inner core) was recently published. However, the media have been misled by the press release of the science journal into thinking that the inner core stopped rotating or was even rotating in the opposite direction to that of the Earth surface, which is not [...]

Ten Thousand Days of Continuous Gravity Measurements in Membach

On 20 December 2022, the superconducting gravimeter in Membach (High Fens, Belgium) will have measured variations in gravity for 10 000 consecutive days. Installed on 4 August 1995 by the Royal Observatory of Belgium, this gravimeter has held a double world record since 18 September 2017: that of the instrument that has measured variations in gravity at a single location [...]

Official opening of the Climate Centre

On 29 November 2022 at 10:00., Secretary of State Thomas Dermine, Scientific Director Valérie Trouet and Operational Director Ella Jamsin officially opened the Climate Centre at the Space Pole in Uccle. Belgian and international scientific, industrial, academic, federal and political representatives attended this event. Bertrand Piccard, who flew around the world with the solar plane Solar Impulse, was the special [...]

Follow the Solar Eclipse of October 25, 2022

A partial solar eclipse will take place on Tuesday, 25 October 2022 and will be visible in Belgium. In Uccle, the eclipse will be visible between 11:10 (first contact) and 13:00 (last contact), and its maximum will take place at 12:04 in Belgian time (UTC + 2 h). From Belgium, this will be a small eclipse, with the Moon covering only about [...]

Space Week 20/10, 7pm: meet astronauts and scientists at the Planetarium of Brussels!

On 24 March 2022, it will have been 30 years since the first Belgian went into space. It was on this date that astro­naut Dirk Frimout left for space in the American shut­tle Atlantis. The year 2022 also marks the 20thanniver­sary of Frank De Winne​’s first space flight. These anniver­saries should not pass unno­ticed, which is why we are organ­is­ing Belgian Space week. An event at the Planetarium on 20 October (7pm-9:30pm) puts space research in [...]

Call for the development of an artwork for the Federal Climate Centre

On the occasion of the opening of the Federal Climate Centre, a call for artwork is being launched. It aims to announce the location of this new Climate Centre and build a bridge to the public space.

Do art and climate sound like music to your ears?

Then submit a dossier by email to info@meteo.be before midnight on the 7th of October [...]

DART impact on an asteroid, a milestone for the Royal Observatory of Belgium

Brussels, 20 September 2022 – During the night of September 26–27, at approximately 1:15 a.m. (Belgian time), NASA’s DART probe will crash into the asteroid Dimorphos, located more than 10 million kilometres from Earth. The purpose of this impact is to test an asteroid deflection strategy. For the Royal Observatory of Belgium, which is involved in planetary defence, this mission represents an important first [...]

Open Doors on September 24-25, 2022

The Royal Observatory of Belgium, the Royal Meteorological Institute and the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy will open their doors on 24-25 September 2022 from 10:00 to 18:00. [...]

Exhibition Science & Culture 2022 at the Royal Palace

Following an absence of two years due to the COVID-19 crisis, Science & Culture at the Palace is back from July 23 to August 28, 2022. To facilitate a smooth flow of visitors during these open days, the exhibition will be in a ‘light’ version proposed by the Palace. [...]