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 [...]
Each year the Royal Palace in Brussels open its doors for the public during the summer period. From July 22 to September 2, 2018, “Science & Culture at the Royal Palace” will present the exhibition “Wonder” with an original selection of works of art, scientific instruments and astonishing natural phenomena.
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Paul Melchior (1925-2004), former director of the Royal Observatory of Belgium, was cartoonist Peyo’s friend. Together they chose to illustrate the current research in Earth sciences at the Observatory with the Smurfs.
Hence, no less than 18 greeting cards featuring the joyful little blue men are published from 1966, all of them being inspired by the research and instruments of the [...]