Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
Belgium's natural sciences institute and museum, which curates meteorites collected by Belgian and Japanese teams in Antarctica.
Key facts
- Where
- Brussels, Belgium
- Kind
- Museum
- Visiting
- Public galleries
The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences runs the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels, best known for its dinosaurs, and holds Belgium's national collections of minerals and meteorites.
Since 2009 Belgian and Japanese scientists have searched the blue ice fields near Belgium's Princess Elisabeth research station in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, and recovered hundreds of meteorites. Ice flowing towards the mountains carries meteorites with it and brings them to the surface where the wind wears the ice away, so a few patches of blue ice concentrate stones that fell over hundreds of thousands of years. The Belgian share of these finds is curated in Brussels and studied with Belgian universities.
Highlights
- Antarctic meteorites from searches near the Princess Elisabeth station
Opening times, what is on display and access to research collections change over time, so check with the institution before you visit.