Volkssterrenwacht Mira

Om museet

Volkssterrenwacht Mira was founded in 1967 by the Norbertine Godfried Thomas Pieraerts (1908–1984) and is linked to the abbey of Grimbergen. It is regarded as the oldest public observatory in Belgium. The first observatory was housed entirely in the abbey buildings.

In 2000 the observatory received a new building with two large lecture halls, a library and part of the permanent exhibition. For its fortieth anniversary in 2007, all exhibition spaces were renewed so that visitors can also explore them without a guide. A year later, new, more powerful telescopes were added. Around its fiftieth anniversary (2017–2018) came a larger dome with a telescope with a 50-centimetre mirror and a separate room on the search for exoplanets.

Mira has two fixed telescope domes, a fixed solar telescope, a planetarium room, multimedia rooms, a library, a weather station and a large collection of telescopes and other astronomical instruments. According to the association itself, this is probably the most extensive astronomical instrument collection of any Belgian public observatory. Every year many thousands of visitors come, in groups or during the opening hours for individual visitors. Under the name MIRA 2.0, the association is also preparing a renovation of the building, including the entrance hall and the street side.

Højdepunkter

• Planetarium room with the night sky over Belgium and a heliostat that projects the sun onto the room as a disc 140 centimetres wide
• Two telescope domes on the observation terrace, including a dome with a telescope with a 50-centimetre mirror
• Interactive optical experiment area and exhibition rooms on stellar evolution, meteorites and the universe
• Foucault pendulum, rotating star map and models of the seasons, eclipses and curved space
• Educational weather station and radio detection of shooting stars
• Telescope on a height-adjustable column, specially designed for wheelchair users

Permanente udstillinger

• Tentoonstelling en experimenteerruimte – Several rooms explain how stars evolve, how the universe is built up and what meteorites and cosmic radiation are; with multimedia and experiments, visitors can get hands-on themselves.
• Planetariumzaal en heliostaat – Under the planetarium dome you see the night sky over Belgium; in clear weather the heliostat projects the sun, with sunspots, into the room.
• Waarnemingsterras en weerstation – On the terrace you can see the telescope domes and the instruments of the educational weather station, with a film about weather forecasting.

Grundlagt

1967

Ejer

Volkssterrenwacht Mira vzw

Entrépriser & rabatter

Individual visit on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons: adults €4, children aged 6 to 11 €2, including audio guide. Members of the WWF Rangerclub enter free with a valid membership card; young people with a JCW newsletter get €1 off.

Tilgængelighed

• Kørestolsvenlig: ingen oplysninger
• Elevator: ingen oplysninger
• Handicaptoilet: ingen oplysninger
• Handicapparkering: ingen oplysninger
• Servicehunde tilladt: ingen oplysninger
• Taktile tilbud: ingen oplysninger
• Rundvisninger på tegnsprog: ingen oplysninger
• Letlæste tilbud: ingen oplysninger
• Synstolkning: ingen oplysninger

For wheelchair users there is a telescope on an electrically height-adjustable column; the heliostat in the planetarium room and the low 40 cm telescope can also be used from a wheelchair. Please enquire by phone in advance about the accessibility of the building.

Børn og familie

Velegnet til børn og familier

• Familieomvisninger & workshops
• Interaktive stationer
• Børnefødselsdage

Mira offers a children's programme for groups and birthday parties. The Astroclub on the second Friday of the month is a multimedia show for the whole family. In the optical experiment area and the exhibition, children can experiment for themselves.

Transport & parkering

Many GPS devices and Google Maps wrongly show the whole Abdijstraat as a one-way street; preferably approach via the Wolvertemsesteenweg (N211). Coaches are not allowed through the centre of Grimbergen. There are two bicycle parking areas at the entrance; cycle junction 38 is at the end of the street.

Service & spisesteder

The library and documentation centre are free to visit on Wednesday afternoons and during the Astroclub evenings.

Arrangementer & udlejning

Museet har ikke offentliggjort oplysninger om dette.

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