After several successful and fun visits to the Planetarium in Brussels and the Public Observatory in Grimbergen it is time for some serious stargazing. This mid-summer date is not chosen without reason, because around the Saturday of our visit the Earth passes through the Perseids meteor field, resulting in dozens of shooting stars in the sky. It will be new moon that night, so the light conditions could not be better. Join us on this trip to the Ardennes to enjoy the celestial spectacle together with a group of enthusiast expats. Be aware that only 33 people can join due to size limitations.
We will travel by luxury coach towards the Ardennes. It’s about a 2 hours drive, so really far away from the light-polluted Brussels area. We only depart around 18h00 from Place Schuman, so you can still eat something at home.
At the Observatoire Centre Ardenne you will have the chance to learn more about the stars during a presentation in the planetarium (dome-shaped theatre). Besides that you will be able to watch through two very good telescopes (big ones!), the best in Belgium. Our guides will show you various celestial objects. Last year we saw about 6-8 amazing things, including planets, nebulas, and star clusters. Please note that we have to wait our turn and that our guides may not speak English perfectly (they are local astronomers). Probably the best part of the evening is that you can look up into a clear magnificent Ardennes sky and observe the shooting stars. In 2016 year most of us saw at least a few, with clear winners that saw more than six! Since it will be considerably darker this time due to the new moon (it was near full moon back then), chances are everyone sees many more stars.
Needless to say that we will come back after midnight. The stargazing will last about 2 hours after which we have to drive back. We return probably around 1h30. Since this is after closure of public transportation we will not only stop at the pick-up points Schuman, La Chasse, Delta and Hermann-Debroux, but also at Merode, Montgomery, Diamant and eventually also Meiser and Evere).
Weather permitted
Of course it is possible there are many clouds when we travel to the Ardennes. On Wednesday 8 August Expat Club will take a final decision whether the event will take place or not. Please do not delay your registration though. You will of course be promptly refunded if it doesn’t work out.
