On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the Royal Observatory of Belgium opens its doors on September 21 for an Astronomy Day, organised by the Planetarium of Brussels, in collaboration with the FFAAB (Fédération Francophone des Astronomes Amateurs de Belgique) and the VVS (Vereniging Voor Sterrenkunde).
The program includes activities for young and old: visits [...]
The annual “Science and Culture” exhibition will take place this summer from July 23 to August 25 at the Royal Palace. The Belgian and international public will get the opportunity to admire an original selection of works of art and research instruments from the Belgian heritage. The theme of this exhibition is “The Moon: between dream and reality”. [...]
Try your luck to officially name an exoplanet and its host star
Within the framework of its 100th anniversary commemorations, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is organising the IAU100 NameExoWorlds global competition that allows any country in the world to give a popular name to a selected exoplanet and its host star. The Belgian Steering Committee IAU100 organises the selection for [...]
Tim van Hoolst, project leader in planetary science at the Royal Observatory of Belgium won the 2019 Runcorn-Florensky Medal of the European Geosciences Union for his seminal contributions to the field of geodesy and geophysics of the terrestrial planets and satellites and for leadership in planetary geodesy.
His field of research is the rotation and tides of planets and satellites and [...]
For the first time, scientists from the Royal Observatory of Belgium and the Royal Meteorological Institute compare the data of a meteorological radar with those of a gravimeter, which measures changes in gravity. In a joint study published in the journal Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, they showed that a superconducting gravimeter detects precipitation as a giant rain gauge over [...]
ESCAPE, the ‘European Science Cluster of Astronomy and Particle physics ESFRI research infrastructures’, is an international project supported by the European Commission to boost the implementation of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). EOSC is a cloud for research data in Europe allowing for universal access to data, providing a single online platform where all European researchers will be able [...]
On November 26, 2018, NASA’s InSight mission will land on the surface of Mars for a two-year mission. [...]
On November 16, 2018, in Versailles, the General Conference on Weights and Measures officially endorsed the new basic units of the International System of Units (SI; Système Internatiopnal d’Unités). Michel Van Camp, Head of the Operational Directorate “Seismology and Gravimetry” of the Royal Observatory of Belgium, and his colleagues at the Federal Institute of Metrology in Bern and the University [...]
On August 31, 2018, the European Commission proposed ending daylight saving time. Belgium and its neighbors have to choose whether they will permanently stay at winter time or at summer time. The Royal Observatory of Belgium presents some astronomical documents and data in order to stimulate a reflection on this choice. [...]
On Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 September 2018, the Space Pole (the Royal Observatory of Belgium, the Royal Meteorological Institute and the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy) opens its doors.
The program includes activities for young and old. Visit the telescopes, the climate center or the virtual weather office; follow one of the many thematic lectures; be amazed by the [...]