Royal Observatory of Belgium
Observatoire royal de Belgique / Koninklijke Sterrenwacht van België  |
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| founding | 1828 (in Sint-Joost-ten-Node , new building 1891) |
| IAU code | 012 |
| Type | Observatory |
| Coordinates | 50 ° 47 '53.4 " N , 4 ° 21' 31.1" E |
| place | Uccle / Ukkel |
| Website | www.astro.oma.be |
The Royal Observatory of Belgium ( French Observatoire royal de Belgique ; Dutch Koninklijke Sterrenwacht van België ) is an astronomical observatory in Uccle / Ukkel , in the south of the Belgian capital Brussels .
The observatory has the IAU code 012 and has been declared an Outstanding Astronomical Heritage by the International Astronomical Union because of its importance in the history of astronomy .
history
The observatory was founded in 1828 by Adolphe Quetelet in Sint-Joost-ten-Node (on the northeastern edge of Brussels); the building was erected in 1827-28
In 1883-1891 a new observatory was built near Uccle, on a more favorable location south of Brussels. It is located on the Groeselenberg in a circular park.
The observatory was also responsible for the weather service until 1913, when the Royal Meteorological Institute (KMI) was founded. It is still in the same building complex.
Before the Second World War, the observatory had a telescope with a one-meter mirror, identical to that of the Hamburg observatory . However, this was lost during the war and was replaced in 1958 by a Schmidt camera with an opening of 84 cm.
The observatory worked on the Carte du Ciel (epoch 1939–1950, observations until 1964), and 117,000 star locations were mapped.
The Solar Influences Data Analysis Center , the world data center for the sunspot relative number, has been located here since 1981 .
activities
The main activities of the observatory are:
- Reference systems and geodynamics
- Astrometry and dynamics of celestial bodies
- astrophysics
- Solar physics
- seismology
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ uni-hamburg: Buildings & Telescopes ( Memento of the original dated May 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Solar Influences Data analysis center
- ^ Website of the Royal Observatory of Belgium: Seismology Department (German), accessed on April 8, 2015
