Brussels, 18 October 2019 – Ever closer to the Sun! The instrument EUI (Extreme Ultraviolet Imager) is integrated into the Solar Orbiter satellite to be launched towards the Sun in February 2020. Today, Solar Orbiter can be seen for the last time before being shipped to Cape Canaveral, the launch site. [...]
A special report from international experts was released on October 10, 2019, to explain the challenges of space weather and to provide a set of recommendations against radiation hazards in space. David Berghmans, of the Royal Observatory of Belgium, is a co-author of the report. [...]
On Friday October 11, 2019, the European Research Council (ERC) announced the award of new grants to European researchers (ERC Synergy Grants). Among the laureates is Dr. Véronique Dehant, researcher at the Royal Observatory of Belgium for the project GRACEFUL: GRavimetry, mAgnetism and CorE Flow. [...]
An international team of professional and amateur astronomers, which includes Alex Lobel, astronomer at the Royal Observatory of Belgium, has determined in detail how the temperature of four yellow hypergiants increases from 4000 degrees to 8000 degrees and back again in a few decades. They publish their findings in the professional journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. [...]
Choose from the four proposals selected 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. Individuals, associations and schools are invited [...]
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 [...]