News

06 Mar 25

Assault on Science in the United States – The Royal Observatory of Belgium Endorses the ALLEA Statement

Recent restrictions on science and scholarship brought by the new US administration executive orders have prompted the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA) to respond with a statement calling for their members, partners and like-minded organisations to take a stand to safeguard academic freedom and the autonomy of scientific institutions. The Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB) endorses [...]

06 March 2025 Read more...
17 Feb 25

New Insights into the Mysterious Yellow Hypergiant Stars Outbursts

Brussels, 17 February 2025 – A recent five-year study has uncovered new insights into the properties of Yellow Hypergiants, a heavy star class known for their dramatic outbursts. Scientists focused on Rho Cassiopeiae (Rho Cas), HR 8752, and HR 5171A, revealing that Rho Cas exhibits cyclical outbursts every 10 to 40 years, with large fluctuations of its surface temperature. Alex [...]

17 February 2025 Read more...
16 Jan 25

Asteroid Impact Sulfur Release Less Lethal in Dinosaur Extinction

Previous studies posited that the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs was caused by large volumes of sulfur released from rocks within the Chicxulub crater following the asteroid impact. A new paper published in the journal Nature Communications questions this scenario. The authors, including Cem Berk Senel and Özgür Karatekin of the Royal Observatory of Belgium, used groundbreaking empirical [...]

16 January 2025 Read more...
20 Dec 24

20th century Felt Earthquakes in Belgium

How many earthquakes were experienced in your municipality?
In 2024, the Seismology and Gravimetry section of the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB) published a new paper presenting an overview of a century of felt earthquakes in Belgium. Compiling the seismic impact on Belgium was rendered possible by reviewing all testimonies of the Belgian population to the ROB on how they experienced [...]

20 December 2024 Read more...
17 Dec 24

A new book in historical seismology published by the Observatory!

Earthquakes in Europe and Minor Asia from 284 to 1550
In 2024, the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB) published a new book in historical seismology, written by Pierre Alexandre and Dominique Alexandre-Lamotte. In this work 2,489 critical sources and a catalogue containing 1,507 earthquakes that took place in the Middle Age and Renaissance are presented. The book is free to download. [...]

17 December 2024 Read more...