Experience the Solar Eclipse from Humain

On Wednesday, 12 August 2026, Belgium will witness a spectacular partial solar eclipse, with almost 90% of the Sun covered by the Moon. The eclipse reaches its maximum just before sunset, making this a truly memorable event.

To celebrate the occasion, the Royal Observatory of Belgium is exceptionally opening its Radio Astronomy Station in Humain (Marche-en-Famenne). With an unobstructed view of the horizon, it's the perfect location to enjoy the eclipse (weather permitting).

Arrive from 5:00 PM to explore this rarely accessible research site, learn about our solar observations, and stay for evening telescope observations after the eclipse. If we're lucky, you may even catch a glimpse of the planet Venus!

Practical information

• Wednesday, 12 August 2026
• Site opens: 5:00 PM
• Solar eclipse: 7:19 PM – 8:14 PM (maximum at 8:14 PM, local time)
• Site closes to the public at 10:30 PM
Rue de l'Observatoire, 6900 Marche-en-Famenne, Belgium

Attendance is free, but registration is mandatory and places are limited. Please also remember to bring a small torch.

As the event depends on weather conditions, it may be cancelled at short notice.

Registration is closed. For those registered, please find more detailed info HERE.

Eclipse glasses: Eclipse glasses can be purchased on site at a cost of 2.5 Euros per unit. Please make sure to have some small change ready.

On this day...

1675 First stone of the Greenwich Observatory - 1990 Magellan orbits Venus

1675: The first stone of the Greenwich Observatory was laid, in a building designed by the renowned architect — and scientist — Sir Christopher Wren. King Charles II appointed John Flamsteed as the very first Astronomer Royal. The principal task entrusted to Flamsteed was mathematical and practical: to correct the tables of the motions of celestial bodies and to determine accurately the positions of the fixed stars, so as to provide navigation with reliable reference points for calculating longitude at sea, at a time when the lunar‑distance method was considered one of the possible keys to the problem. To achieve this, the observatory was equipped with the finest sextants, pendulum clocks, and astronomical refractors of the day, initiating an observational campaign that would last over several decades.

1990: The arrival of Magellan in orbit around Venus brought a major geological revelation that overturned our understanding of rocky planets. By analysing the distribution and small number of impact craters on the surface, planetary scientists were astonished to find that Venus’s crust is extremely young on the scale of Solar System history—only about 300 to 500 million years old. These data suggest that the planet has undergone vast episodes of volcanic resurfacing, able to renew large portions of its crust in a geologically short time and erase its most ancient traces. Venus thus appears as a world profoundly reworked by volcanism and a distinctive internal tectonics, lacking the continuous plate tectonics we see on Earth.

Image credits : ChrisO

Royal Observatory, Greenwich. A time ball sits atop the Octagon Room. — The Royal Observatory of Greenwich

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