Royal Observatory of Belgium Information

The Royal Observatory of Belgium is an internationally renowned research institute with recognized expertise in the study of planet Earth and other nearby or remote objects in the Universe. Astronomy, astrophysics, planetology, geophysics, seismology, gravimetry, spatial geodesy and solar physics constitute the main research fields of the Observatory. As a public institute, the Royal Observatory of Belgium also provides services to the scientific community, to the public, to the government and to the whole society, where these services fall within the boundaries of its missions and are based on the results obtained by its researchers. Such services include time service, management of the Belgian seismic network, integration of the Belgian GNSS stations (Global Navigation Satellite Systems such as GPS and Galileo) in international reference systems, gravimetric measures, continuous monitoring of the solar activity, space weather forecasts and diffusion of information related to astronomical phenomena. The Royal Observatory of Belgium also manages the Planetarium at the Heysel site, a magical place! Visitors can admire starry skies reproduced in genuine form by projection onto the large dome (at a diameter of more than 23 meters, on the largest in Europe). The scientific disciplines that fall within the remit of the 3 Federal Scientific Institutes of the Space Pole are presented there by immersive audiovisual displays, outreach conferences and exhibitions. Together with 9 other Federal Scientific Institutes, the Royal Observatory of Belgium is part of the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO).