Ten years of stellar discoveries: the Gaia mission
On December 19, we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the launch of the ESA Gaia satellite.
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18
Dec 23
News
29
Nov 23
Renowned scientist Véronique Dehant honored with the prestigious 2024 EGU Jean Dominique Cassini Medal
The European Geosciences Union (EGU) announced on 16 November 2023 the recipients of its 2024 awards and medals. Véronique Dehant, of the Royal Observatory of Belgium, stood out among her peers as the recipient of the Jean Dominique Cassini Medal. This accolade recognizes her outstanding contributions to Earth, planetary, and space sciences. [...]
07
Nov 23
Commemoration of the Liège 1983 earthquake
On Wednesday 8 November 1983, 40 years ago, a medium-sized earthquake shook the city of Liège. This earthquake occurred in the middle of the night at 1:49 am local time (0:49 UTC) and had its epicenter in the commune of Saint-Nicolas, a densely populated municipality west of the city of Liège. This is the last earthquake with significant damage in [...]
04
Nov 23
Gaia Observes a Cosmic Clock Inside a Large Planetary Nebula
The ESA Gaia mission website recently published an image of a planetary nebula, supplemented with three years of data gathered by the satellite. Inside this object, twinkles a blue dot with a very regular pulse of light. This is the mother binary star system of the planetary nebula. Truly a hefty cosmic clock in our galaxy! [...]
30
Oct 23
Dust played a major role in dinosaur demise
Fine dust from pulverized rock generated by the Chicxulub impact likely played a dominant role in global climate cooling and the disruption of photosynthesis following the event. This is suggested by a new study published in Nature Geoscience, in which researchers Cem Berk Cenel, Özgür Karatekin and Orkun Temel of the Royal Observatory of Belgium contributed. [...]
26
Oct 23
A molten layer at the base of the Martian mantle?
Brussels, 26 October 2023 – The analysis, by a team of scientists involved in the InSight mission, of seismic data recorded on Mars after a meteorite impact that occurred in September 2021 drastically changes our view of the internal structure and evolution of the Red Planet. Based on these results and previous geophysical data, a study published on October 26 [...]
12
Oct 23
Christine Verbeke makes it to the final round of the Flemish PHD Cup 2023
Christine Verbeke, who until recently worked at the space weather prediction centre of the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB), is competing in the final of the Flemish PhD Cup.
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10
Oct 23
Building the most detailed 3D map of the Milky Way: Belgian astronomers contribute to the Gaia Focused Product Releases
Brussels, 10 October 2023 – Today the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Gaia collaboration teams are publishing new data in the form of five Focused Product Releases. The results are very promising, making of this delivery a first teaser of what will be the fourth version of the Gaia catalogue (Gaia DR4), expected by the end of 2025.
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03
Oct 23
Renovation of the bust of Nicolaus Copernicus in the Brussels Planetarium
This year marks the 550th anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikołaj Kopernik). To mark the occasion, the Polish Institute Brussels renovated the bust of this famous Polish astronomer in July 2023. [...]
13
Sep 23
Guest Investigator Call: visit the EUI and SWAP/LYRA PI teams in Brussels in 2024
The EUI and SWAP/LYRA PI teams welcome research proposals for the 2024 round of its Guest Investigator Program for research based on EUI, SWAP or LYRA data analysis by scientists outside the PI teams. [...]