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63-819: In November 1956, a double astrograph at the Uccle Observatory in Brussels was being used for routine investigation of minor planets . On November 8, 1956, the Belgian astronomers Sylvain Arend and Georges Roland discovered a comet on their photographic plates. At that time the comet was at visual magnitude 10, with a strong central condensation and a short tail. The early discovery of this comet allowed observing programs and equipment to be prepared well in advance. The orbital elements for this comet were computed by Michael Philip Candy, who predicted perihelion passage on April 8, 1957. As

126-558: A separation of church and state existed in the kingdom. However, William himself was a strong supporter of the Reformed Church . This led to resentment among the people in the mostly Catholic south. William had also devised controversial language and school policies. Dutch was imposed as the official language in (the Dutch-speaking region of) Flanders ; this angered French-speaking aristocrats and industrial workers. Schools throughout

189-477: A Prussian division which took part in the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt . The Prussians lost that battle and William was forced to surrender his troops rather ignominiously at Erfurt the day after the battle. He was made a prisoner of war, but was paroled soon. Napoleon punished him for his betrayal, however, by taking away his principality. As a parolee, William was not allowed to take part in the hostilities anymore. After

252-535: A high opinion of him. William was victorious at the Battles of Gosselies and Lambusart and proved to be an able commander, but the French armies ultimately proved too strong, and the general allied leadership too inept. Despite a well-executed attack by William on the French left, the allied army under Coburg was finally defeated at the Battle of Fleurus . The French first entered Dutch Brabant which they dominated after

315-535: A more flexible mind, went to visit Napoleon at St. Cloud in 1802. He apparently charmed the First Consul, and was charmed by him. Napoleon raised hopes for William that he might have an important role in a reformed Batavian Republic. Meanwhile, William's brother-in-law Frederick William III of Prussia , neutral at the time, promoted a Franco-Prussian convention of 23 May 1802, in addition to the Treaty of Amiens , that gave

378-527: A new University of Leuven , the University of Ghent and the University of Liège . The northern provinces, meanwhile, were the centre of trade. This, in combination with the colonies ( Dutch East Indies , Surinam , Curaçao and Dependencies , and the Dutch Gold Coast ) created great wealth for the kingdom. However, the money flowed into the hands of Dutch directors. Only a few Belgians managed to profit from

441-581: A perceived mismanagement of the war effort. High costs of the war came to burden the Dutch economy, fueling public resentment. In 1839, William was forced to end the war. The United Kingdom of the Netherlands was dissolved by the Treaty of London (1839) and the northern part continued as the Kingdom of the Netherlands . It was not renamed, however, as the "United"-prefix had never been part of its official name, but rather

504-682: Is named in honour of the city and the observatory and 16908 Groeselenberg is named for the hill the observatory is located on. Adolphe Quetelet first petitioned the government of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands to establish an astronomical observatory in Brussels in 1823. William I granted his request in 1826 and construction started in 1827 in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode . Meteorological observations started early, but delivery and installation of astronomical equipment proceeded slowly. Quetelet

567-695: The Batavian Republic was proclaimed. Soon after the departure to Britain the hereditary prince went back to the continent, where his brother was assembling former members of the States Army in Osnabrück for a planned invasion into the Batavian Republic in the summer of 1795. However, the neutral Prussian government forbade this. In 1799, William landed in the current North Holland as part of an Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland . The hereditary prince

630-715: The Battle of Boxtel . When in the winter of 1794–95 the rivers in the Rhine delta froze over, the French breached the southern Hollandic Water Line and the situation became militarily untenable. In many places Dutch revolutionaries took over the local government. After the Batavian Revolution in Amsterdam on 18 January 1795 the stadtholder decided to flee to Britain, and his sons accompanied him. (On this last day in Holland his father relieved William honorably of his commands). The next day

693-697: The Confederation of the Rhine . He spent the following years in exile in Prussia. In 1813, following Napoleon's defeat at Leipzig , the Orange-Nassau territories were restored to William; he also accepted the offer to become Sovereign Prince of the United Netherlands . William proclaimed himself king of the Netherlands in 1815. In the same year, he concluded a treaty with King Frederick William III in which he ceded

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756-681: The Duke of Nassau . The Great Powers had already agreed via the secret Eight Articles of London to unite the Low Countries into a single kingdom, it was believed that this would help keep France in check. With the de facto addition of the Austrian Netherlands and Luxembourg to his realm, William had fulfilled his family's three-century dream of uniting the Low Countries. Feeling threatened by Napoleon, who had escaped from Elba , William proclaimed

819-697: The House of Nassau . But before this came about, in 1809 tensions between Austria and France became intense, resulting in the War of the Fifth Coalition . William did not hesitate to join the Austrian army as a Feldmarschalleutnant (major-general) in May 1809 As a member of the staff of the Austrian supreme commander, Archduke Charles he took part in the Battle of Wagram , where he

882-591: The House of Orange a few abbatial domains in Germany, that were combined to the Principality of Nassau-Orange-Fulda by way of indemnification for its losses in the Batavian Republic. The stadtholder gave this principality immediately to his son. When war broke out between the French Empire and Prussia in 1806, William supported his Prussian relatives, though he was nominally a French vassal. He received command of

945-656: The Peace of Tilsit William received a pension from France in compensation. In the same year, 1806, his father, the Prince of Orange died, and William not only inherited the title, but also his father's claims on the inheritance embodied in the Nassau lands. This would become important a few years later, when developments in Germany coincided to make William the Fürst (Prince) of a diverse assembly of Nassau lands that had belonged to other branches of

1008-504: The transit of Venus 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. Georges Lecointe was appointed as director in 1900, succeeding F. Folie and A. Lancaster. Under his leadership, seismological measurements started in 1901 and

1071-475: The 1973 passage of comet Kohoutek . Comet Arend–Roland was the subject of the first edition of the BBC 's long-running astronomy program The Sky at Night on April 24, 1957. Astronomer Carl Sagan relates an anecdote on page 80 of his 1980 book Cosmos about being on duty in an observatory near Chicago in 1957 when a late-night phone call from an inebriated man asked what was the "fuzzy thing" they were seeing in

1134-563: The Great Powers impose him on the country. The Dutch population were pleased with the departure of the French, who had ruined the Dutch economy, and this time welcomed the prince. After having been invited by the Triumvirate of 1813 , on 30 November 1813 William disembarked from HMS  Warrior and landed at Scheveningen beach, only a few yards from the place where he had left the country with his father 18 years before, and on 6 December

1197-560: The Netherlands under the impulse of Adolphe Quetelet . It was home to a 100 cm (39 in) diameter aperture Zeiss reflector in the first half of the 20th century, one of the largest telescopes in the world at the time. It now owns a variety of other astronomical instruments, such as astrographs , as well as a range of seismograph equipment (for detecting earthquakes ). Its main activities are reference systems and geodynamics , astrometry and dynamics of celestial bodies, astrophysics , and Solar physics . The asteroid 1276 Ucclia

1260-464: The Netherlands a kingdom on 16 March 1815 at the urging of the powers gathered at the Congress of Vienna . His son, the future king William II , fought as a commander at the Battle of Waterloo . After Napoleon had been sent into exile, William adopted a new constitution which included many features of the old constitution, such as extensive royal powers. He was formally confirmed as hereditary ruler of what

1323-481: The Orange-Nassau to Prussia in exchange for becoming the new grand duke of Luxembourg. As king, he adopted a new constitution, presided over strong economic and industrial progress, promoted trade and founded the universities of Leuven , Ghent and Liège . The imposition of the Reformed faith and the Dutch language, as well as feelings of economic inequity, caused widespread resentment in the southern provinces and led to

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1386-627: The Prince of Orange, and Prince Frederick to invade the new state. Although initially victorious in this Ten Days' Campaign , the Royal Netherlands Army was forced to retreat after the threat of French intervention . Some support for the Orange dynasty (chiefly among the Flemish ) persisted for years, but the Dutch never regained control over Belgium. William nevertheless continued the war for eight years. His economic successes became overshadowed by

1449-722: The Reformed faith and the Dutch language in the southern provinces, combined with economic grievances, sparked the Belgian Revolution in 1830. Unable to suppress the rebellion, William ultimately accepted Belgian independence in 1839 under the Treaty of London. William's later years were marked by dissatisfaction with constitutional changes and personal reasons, leading to his abdication in 1840 in favor of his son, King William II . He spent his final years in Berlin, where he died in 1843. William

1512-719: The States General, defunct since 1795, "whenever those would be reconstituted." This brigade trained on the Isle of Wight in 1800 and was eventually used by the British in Ireland. When peace was concluded between Great Britain and the French Republic under First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte the Orange exiles were at their nadir. The Dutch Brigade was dissolved on 12 July 1802. Many members of

1575-541: The age of 71. King William I's parents were the last stadtholder William V, Prince of Orange of the Dutch Republic , and his wife Wilhelmina of Prussia . Until 1806, William was formally known as William VI, Prince of Orange-Nassau , and between 1806 and 1813 also as Prince of Orange. In Berlin on 1 October 1791, William married his maternal first cousin (Frederica Louisa) Wilhelmina of Prussia , born in Potsdam . She

1638-523: The brigade went home to the Batavian Republic, thanks to an amnesty. The surrendered ships of the Batavian Navy were not returned, due to an agreement between the stadtholder and the British government of 11 March 1800. Instead the stadtholder was allowed to sell them to the Royal Navy for an appreciable sum. The stadtholder, feeling betrayed by the British, left for Germany. The hereditary prince, having

1701-463: The comet over a period of 520 days allowed precise orbital elements to be computed. However, the distribution of the orbital elements showed a wavy pattern that suggested a non-gravitational influence. Alternatively, the comet may have originated from interstellar space rather than from the Oort cloud . When an orbital solution is computed that includes non-gravitational forces that vary as the inverse square of

1764-571: The comet was already well developed, he predicted that the object would present a prominent display during April in the northern hemisphere. In early December the comet was 2.5  AU from the Sun and 1.7 AU from the Earth. It was in the constellation Pisces until February, when it reached magnitude 7.5–8. During the April perihelion passage, the tail of the comet reached a length of 15° of arc. The appearance of

1827-576: The death of his father in 1806 to distinguish him from William V. Like his younger brother Prince Frederick of Orange-Nassau he was tutored by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler and the Dutch historian Herman Tollius . They were both tutored in the military arts by General Frederick Stamford . After the Patriot revolt had been suppressed in 1787, he in 1788–89 attended the military academy in Brunswick which

1890-494: The defeat of Napoleon in 1813, William returned to the Netherlands, where he was invited to assume the role of Sovereign Prince of the United Netherlands. In 1815, William proclaimed himself king of the Netherlands and concurrently became the grand duke of Luxembourg. His reign saw the adoption of a new constitution, which granted him extensive powers, and he was a strong proponent of economic development, founding several universities and promoting trade. However, his efforts to impose

1953-457: The dynasty. Dynastic considerations of marriage between the royal houses of Great Britain and the Netherlands, assured British approval. After Napoleon's defeat at Leipzig (October 1813), the French troops retreated to France from all over Europe. The Netherlands had been annexed to the French Empire by Napoleon in 1810. But now city after city was evacuated by the French occupation troops. In

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2016-533: The economic growth. Feelings of economic inequity were another cause of the Belgian uprising. William was also determined to create a unified people, even though the north and the south had drifted far apart culturally and economically since the south was reconquered by Spain after the Act of Abjuration of 1581. The north was commercial, Protestant and entirely Dutch-speaking; the south was industrial, Roman Catholic and divided between Dutch and French-speakers. Officially,

2079-491: The ensuing power vacuum a number of former Orangist politicians and former Patriots formed a provisional government in November 1813. Although a large number of the members of the provisional government had helped drive out William V 18 years earlier, it was taken for granted that his son would have to head any new government. They also agreed it would be better in the long term for the Dutch to restore him themselves, rather than have

2142-702: The first weather balloons were launched in 1906. Belgium participated in the Carte du Ciel 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 the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams was located in Uccle from 1920 to 1922 while it was headed by Lecointe. Illness forced Lecointe to resign in 1925 and he

2205-506: The heliocentric distance, somewhat different values are derived (see the Marsden (1970) column in the table below). At perihelion, the comet was emitting an estimated 7.5 × 10 kg/s (83 tons/s) of dust and was releasing roughly 1.5 × 10 gas molecules per second. It is believed that an outburst of dust occurred on April 2, six days before perihelion. The antitail was formed from particles released between February 6 and March 1, 1957. Estimates of

2268-574: The hereditary prince was forced to leave the country again after the Convention of Alkmaar . The mutineers of the Batavian fleet, with their ships, and a large number of deserters from the Batavian army accompanied the retreating British troops to Britain. There William formed the King's Dutch Brigade with these troops, a military unit in British service, that swore oaths of allegiance to the British king, but also to

2331-438: The kingdom were required to instruct students in the Reformed faith and the Dutch language. Many in the south feared that the king sought to extinguish Catholicism and the French language. In August 1830 Daniel Auber 's opera La muette de Portici , about the repression of Neapolitans , was staged in Brussels. Performances of this opera seemed to crystallize a sense of nationalism and "Hollandophobia" in Brussels, and spread to

2394-569: The last stadtholder of the Dutch Republic , and Wilhelmina of Prussia , William experienced significant political upheavals early in life. He fought against the French invasion during the Flanders campaign , and after the Batavian Revolution in 1795, his family went into exile. He briefly ruled the Principality of Nassau-Orange-Fulda before Napoleon's conquests forced him out of power. Following

2457-516: The newly created Principality of Nassau-Orange-Fulda in 1803. When Napoleon invaded Germany in 1806, William fought on the Prussian side and was deposed upon French victory. With the death of his father in 1806, he became Prince of Orange and ruler of the Principality of Orange-Nassau , which he also lost the same year after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and subsequent creation of

2520-405: The north and the south, although the population of the north (2 million) was significantly less than that of the south (3.5 million). The States General's primary function was to approve the king's laws and decrees. The constitution contained many present-day Dutch political institutions; however, their functions and composition have changed greatly over the years. The constitution was accepted in

2583-542: The north, but not in the south. The under-representation of the south was one of the causes of the Belgian Revolution. Referendum turnout was low, in the southern provinces, but William interpreted all abstentions to be yes votes. He prepared a lavish inauguration for himself in Brussels , where he gave the people copper coins (leading to his first nickname, the Copper King ). The spearhead of King William's policies

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2646-463: The outbreak of the Belgian Revolution in 1830. William failed to crush the rebellion and in 1839 he accepted the independence of Belgium in accordance with the Treaty of London . William's disapproval of changes to the constitution, the loss of Belgium and his intention to marry Henrietta d'Oultremont , a Roman Catholic, led to his decision to abdicate in 1840. His eldest son acceded to the throne as King William II . William died in 1843 in Berlin at

2709-482: The provisional government offered him the title of king . William refused, instead proclaiming himself " Sovereign Prince of the Netherlands ". He also wanted the rights of the people to be guaranteed by "a wise constitution". The constitution offered William extensive, nearly absolute powers: ministers were only responsible to him, while a unicameral parliament (the States General ) exercised only limited power. He

2772-441: The rest of the south. Rioting ensued, chiefly aimed at the kingdom's unpopular justice minister, Cornelis Felix van Maanen , who lived in Brussels. An infuriated William responded by sending troops to repress the riots. However, the riots had spread to other southern cities. The riots quickly became popular uprisings. An independent state of Belgium emerged out of the 1830 Revolution. The next year, William sent his sons William ,

2835-507: The sky. Sagan told the man that it was a comet (Arend–Roland). The man asked what a comet was, and Sagan answered that it was "a snowball, one mile wide". After a long pause, the man said, quoting Sagan: "Lemme talk to a real 'shtronomer!". It was traveling on a hyperbolic orbit, that is, traveling fast enough to escape from the Solar System entirely, hence implying that it will never be seen again by earthbound observers. Observations of

2898-415: The start of May it was measured at visual magnitude 5.46. By May 8 it had decreased to magnitude 7, well below the sensitivity limit of the unaided human eye. On May 29 it had dropped to magnitude 8.55. This was the first comet for which attempts were made to detect it at various radio frequencies. However, these efforts were unsuccessful. No comets were successfully detected in the radio band until

2961-469: The tail varied, with streamers on April 16 and May 5, and the tail splitting into three beams on April 29. By April 22 the comet also displayed a prominent anomalous tail (or antitail ) spanning 5°. This antitail stretched out to span 12° on April 25, reaching its maximal extent. The antitail had disappeared by April 29. Following perihelion on April 8, the comet began to fade rapidly from its maximal brightness of magnitude −1. At

3024-494: The total amount of dust released into the zodiacal cloud range from 3 × 10 to 5 × 10 kg . Royal Observatory of Belgium The Royal Observatory of Belgium ( French : Observatoire Royal de Belgique ; Dutch : Koninklijke Sterrenwacht van België ) has been situated in the Uccle municipality of Brussels since 1890. The Royal Observatory was first established in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode in 1826 by King William I of

3087-404: The troops that took part in the Flanders Campaign of 1793–95. He took part in the Battles of Veurne and Menin (where his brother was wounded) in 1793, and commanded during the Siege of Landrecies (1794) , whose fortress surrendered to him. In May 1794 he had replaced general Kaunitz as commander of the combined Austro-Dutch forces on the instigation of Emperor Francis II who apparently had

3150-425: 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 Uccle . He managed to obtain better funding, enlarged the scientific staff and completely renewed the instruments. The first Belgian astronomical expedition was sent to Santiago and San Antonio to observe

3213-456: Was appointed astronomer in 1828. During the Belgian Revolution , 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 became the new director. He called on François van Rysselberghe to attach him to

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3276-409: Was considered an excellent military school, together with his brother. In 1790 he visited a number of foreign courts like the one in Nassau and the Prussian capital Berlin, where he first met his future wife. William subsequently studied briefly at the University of Leiden . In 1790 he was appointed a general of infantry in the Dutch States Army of which his father was Captain general , and he

3339-423: Was economic progress. As he founded many trade institutions, his second nickname was the King-Merchant . In 1822, he founded the Algemeene Nederlandsche Maatschappij ter Begunstiging van de Volksvlijt , which would become one of the most important institutions of Belgium after its independence. Industry flourished, especially in the South. In 1817, he also founded three universities in the southern provinces, such as

3402-468: Was inaugurated as sovereign prince in the New Church in Amsterdam on 30 March 1814. In August 1814, he was appointed Governor-General of the former Austrian Netherlands and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (more or less modern-day Belgium) by the Allied Powers who occupied that country, ruling them on behalf of Prussia. He was also made Grand Duke of Luxembourg , having received that territory in return for trading his hereditary German lands to Prussia and

3465-439: Was instrumental in fomenting a mutiny on the Batavian naval squadron in the Vlieter , resulting in the surrender of the ships without a fight to the Royal Navy , which accepted the surrender in the name of the stadtholder. Not all the local Dutch population, however, was pleased with the arrival of the prince. One local Orangist was even executed. The hoped-for popular uprising failed to materialise. After several minor battles

3528-436: Was known as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands at the Congress of Vienna. The States General was divided into two chambers. The Eerste Kamer (First Chamber or Senate or House of Lords) was appointed by the king. The Tweede Kamer (Second Chamber or House of Representatives or House of Commons) was elected by the Provincial States, which were in turn chosen by census suffrage . The 110 seats were divided equally between

3591-412: Was made a member of the Council of State of the Netherlands . In November 1791 he took his new bride to The Hague . After the National Convention of the French Republic had declared war on the Dutch Republic in February 1793, William was appointed commander-in-chief of the veldleger (mobile army) of the States Army (his father remained the nominal head of the armed forces). As such he commanded

3654-404: Was raised outside the entrance. Examples only In 1914: As of 1981: The Observatory also had a 100 cm aperture Zeiss reflector. William I of the Netherlands William I (Willem Frederik; 24 August 1772 – 12 December 1843) was King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1815 until his abdication in 1840. Born as the son of William V, Prince of Orange ,

3717-489: Was retrospectively added by historians for descriptive purposes. Constitutional changes were initiated in 1840 because the terms which involved the United Kingdom of the Netherlands had to be removed. These constitutional changes also included the introduction of judicial ministerial responsibility . Although the policies remained uncontrolled by parliament, the prerogative was controllable now. The very conservative William could not live with these constitutional changes. This,

3780-421: Was succeeded by Paul Stroobant. Since 1981, the Sunspot Index Data center , the World data center for the Sunspot Index is harbored at the observatory. The Brussels Planetarium is located on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in Laeken (northern part of the City of Brussels ). King Baudouin was an amateur astronomer and took a keen interest in the Royal Observatoy. After his death, a statue in his honour

3843-442: Was the daughter of King Frederick William II of Prussia . After Wilhelmina died in 1837, William married Countess Henrietta d'Oultremont (28 February 1792, in Maastricht – 26 October 1864, in Schloss Rahe ), created countess of Nassau, on 17 February 1841, also in Berlin. As eldest son of the William V, Prince of Orange , William was informally referred to as Erfprins (Hereditary Prince) by contemporaries from his birth until

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3906-416: Was the son of William V, Prince of Orange , the last stadtholder of the Dutch Republic , and Wilhelmina of Prussia . During the Flanders campaign , he commanded the Dutch troops and fought against the French invasion. The family went into exile in London in 1795 following the Batavian Revolution . As compensation for the loss of his father's possessions in the Low Countries, William was appointed ruler of

3969-427: Was wounded in the leg. Tsar Alexander I of Russia played a central role in the restoration of the Netherlands. Prince William VI (as he was now known), who had been living in exile in Prussia, met with Alexander I in March 1813. Alexander promised to support William and help restore an independent Netherlands with William as king. Russian troops in the Netherlands participated with their Prussian allies in restoring

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