The Royal Observatory of Belgium (french: link=no, Observatoire Royal de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Sterrenwacht van België), has been situated in the

Uccle Uccle () or Ukkel () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). It is generally considered an affluent area of the city an ...

municipality of

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

(

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

) since 1890. It was first established in

Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Saint-Josse-ten-Noode () or Sint-Joost-ten-Node (), often simply called Saint-Josse or Sint-Joost, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the Ci ...

in 1826 by

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

under the impulse of

Adolphe Quetelet Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet FRSF or FRSE (; 22 February 1796 – 17 February 1874) was a Belgian astronomer, mathematician, statistician and sociologist who founded and directed the Brussels Observatory and was influential in intro ...

. It was home to a diameter aperture

Zeiss Zeiss or Zeiß may refer to: People *Carl Zeiss (1816–1888), German optician and entrepreneur *Emil Zeiß (1833–1910), German Protestant minister and painter Companies *Carl Zeiss AG, German manufacturer of optics, industrial measurem ...

reflector in the first half of the 20th century, one of the largest telescopes in the world at the time. It owns a variety of other astronomical instruments, such as

astrograph An astrograph (or astrographic camera) is a telescope designed for the sole purpose of astrophotography. Astrographs are mostly used in wide-field astronomical surveys of the sky and for detection of objects such as asteroids, meteors, a ...

s, as well as a range of

seismograph A seismometer is an instrument that responds to ground noises and shaking such as caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and explosions. They are usually combined with a timing device and a recording device to form a seismograph. The outpu ...

equipment (for detecting

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

s). Its main activities are: * Reference systems and

geodynamics Geodynamics is a subfield of geophysics dealing with dynamics of the Earth. It applies physics, chemistry and mathematics to the understanding of how mantle convection leads to plate tectonics and geologic phenomena such as seafloor spreading, mo ...

; *

Astrometry Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other celestial bodies. It provides the kinematics and physical origin of the Solar System and this galaxy, the Milky Way. Hist ...

and dynamics of celestial bodies; *

Astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...

; * Solar physics. The asteroid 1276 Ucclia is named in honour of the city and the observatory and 16908 Groeselenberg is named for the hill the observatory is located on.

History

19th century

first petitioned the government of the

United Kingdom of the Netherlands The United Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; french: Royaume uni des Pays-Bas) is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed between 1815 and 1839. The United Netherlands was cr ...

to establish an astronomical observatory in Brussels in 1823. William I granted his request in 1826 and construction started in 1827 in

. Meteorological observations started early, but delivery and installation of astronomical equipment proceeded slowly. Quetelet was appointed astronomer in 1828. During the

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. T ...

, fighting took place in and around the observatory. Quetelet kept his position under the new government and started scientific observations. By 1834, buildings and instruments were finally completed. Adolpe Quetelet was succeeded by his son Ernest upon his death in 1874. In 1876,

Jean-Charles Houzeau Jean-Charles Houzeau de Lehaie (October 7, 1820 – July 12, 1888) was a Belgian astronomer and journalist. A French speaker, he moved to New Orleans after getting in trouble for his politics in Belgium. In the U.S. he continued his journalisti ...

became the new director. He called on

François van Rysselberghe François van Rysselberghe (24 August 1846 – 3 February 1893) was a Belgian scientist who was the forerunner or the inventor of numerous devices in the fields of meteorology and telephony. He invented, in particular, a system allowing several te ...

to attach him to the weather forecast service the same year. On 26 September 1876, the Observatory published the first Meteorological Bulletin in its history. Immediately after he became director, Houzeau started planning a move to

. He managed to obtain better funding, enlarged the scientific staff and completely renewed the instruments. The first Belgian astronomical expedition was sent to

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

and

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

to observe the

transit of Venus frameless, upright=0.5 A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and a superior planet, becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a tr ...

in 1882. He tried to separate the meteorological and astronomical departments, but this was refused by the government. In 1883 construction of a new observatory in Uccle started, but Houzeau's resignation in 1883 delayed the move which was only completed in 1890–1891.

20th century

Georges Lecointe was appointed as director in 1900, succeeding F. Folie and A. Lancaster. Under his leadership, seismological measurements started in 1901 and the first weather balloons were launched in 1906. Belgium participated in the

Carte du Ciel The Carte du Ciel (literally, 'Map of the Sky') and the Astrographic Catalogue (or Astrographic Chart) were two distinct but connected components of a massive international astronomical project, initiated in the late 19th century, to catalogue an ...

and the Astrographic Catalogue; observations lasted until 1964. In 1913 the meteorological department finally became an independent entity, the Royal Meteorological Institute. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

the

Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams The Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT) is the official international clearing house for information relating to transient astronomical events. The CBAT collects and distributes information on comets, natural satellites, novae, super ...

was located in Uccle from 1920 to 1922 while it was headed by Lecointe. Illness forced Lecointe to resign in 1925 and he was succeeded by Paul Stroobant. Since 1981, the ''Sunspot Index Data center'', the World data center for the ''

Sunspot Sunspots are phenomena on the Sun's photosphere that appear as temporary spots that are darker than the surrounding areas. They are regions of reduced surface temperature caused by concentrations of magnetic flux that inhibit convection. S ...

Index'' is harbored at the observatory. The

Planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a Theater (structure), theatre built primarily for presenting educational entertainment, educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navi ...

is located on the

Heysel Plateau The Heysel Plateau (french: Plateau du Heysel, nl, Heizelplateau) or Heysel Park (french: Parc du Heysel, links=no, nl, Heizelpark, links=no), usually shortened to Heysel () or Heizel (), is a neighbourhood, park and exhibition space in Laeke ...

, in the northern region of Brussels.

King Baudouin Baudouin (;, ; nl, Boudewijn Albert Karel Leopold Axel Maria Gustaaf, ; german: Balduin Albrecht Karl Leopold Axel Maria Gustav. 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993), Dutch name Boudewijn, was King of the Belgians from 17 July 1951 until his dea ...

was an amateur

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

and took a keen interest in the Royal Observatoy. After his death a statue in honour of the king was raised outside the entrance.

Instruments

''Examples only'' In 1914: *38 cm (15-inch) Cooke-Merz refractor *15 cm (6-inch) Cooke-Steinhell refractor *15 cm (6-inch) Repsold refractor with micrometer *

astrograph As of 1981: * Askania

Meridian circle The meridian circle is an instrument for timing of the passage of stars across the local meridian, an event known as a culmination, while at the same time measuring their angular distance from the nadir. These are special purpose telescopes moun ...

(19 cm) * Danjon

Astrolabe An astrolabe ( grc, ἀστρολάβος ; ar, ٱلأَسْطُرلاب ; persian, ستاره‌یاب ) is an ancient astronomical instrument that was a handheld model of the universe. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclin ...

* 45-cm aperture Cooke-Zeiss refractor on equatorial mount * 38-cm aperture refractor * Triple refractor (By Zeiss) * 25, 10, and 15 cm aperture refractors (these are telescopes with a lens) * 20 cm Zeiss Double

Astrograph An astrograph (or astrographic camera) is a telescope designed for the sole purpose of astrophotography. Astrographs are mostly used in wide-field astronomical surveys of the sky and for detection of objects such as asteroids, meteors, a ...

The Observatory also had a 100 cm aperture Zeiss reflector.

List of discovered minor planets

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control 1834 establishments in Belgium Astronomical observatories in Belgium Research institutes in Belgium Buildings and structures in Brussels Minor-planet discovering observatories Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage Uccle William I of the Netherlands