Royal Observatory of Belgium

The Royal Observatory of Belgium has stood in the Uccle district of Brussels since 1890, carrying out astronomical and geophysical research as part of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office.

About the Royal Observatory of Belgium

The observatory was first founded in 1826 in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Brussels, established on 8 June that year by King William I of the Netherlands under the impulse of astronomer and mathematician Adolphe Quetelet. It moved to its present site in Uccle in 1890, after construction there began in 1883.

History

For much of the first half of the 20th century, the observatory housed a 100 cm Zeiss reflector, one of the largest telescopes in the world at the time. Its legacy is written into the sky as well as the ground: the asteroid 1276 Ucclia is named for the city and observatory, and minor planet 16908 Groeselenberg for the hill on which it sits.

Telescopes & research

Today the observatory's instruments include astrographs and seismograph equipment, supporting research across reference systems and geodynamics, astrometry and the dynamics of celestial bodies, astrophysics, and solar physics.

Location & getting there

The observatory sits in Uccle, a southern district of Brussels, Belgium, easily reached from the city centre while still offering a leafy, semi-suburban setting for its historic domes.

Visiting the Royal Observatory of Belgium

Check the observatory's official website for current information on public visits, open days, and events before planning a trip.

See your named star from here

An observatory with over a century of astrometry behind it is a fitting place to think about the exact coordinates of your own named star. Name a star, or look one up in the star catalogue.