The Magnetic Observatory at Manhay

Abstract

The participation of Belgium in the Second International Polar Year, 1932–33, was marked by the establishment of two magnetic observatories, one at Manhay (Province of Luxembourg, Belgium) and the other at Elisabethville (Belgian Congo). The site of Manhay, 45 km from Liège on the height of land between the valleys of the Ourthe and the Amblève and about 15 km distant from each stream (latitude 50° 17.′9 north, longitude 5° 40.′9 east) seemed very suitable for a permanent observatory destined to replace the observatories of Uccle and Cointe, long ago rendered useless by the encroachments of electric tram‐lines.The construction of the building for the Manhay Observatory was completed at the end of July, 1932. The installation and adjustment of the variometers occupied the whole of the month of August. The station was ready for operation by September 1, but the absolute hourly values of the horizontal and vertical components could not, for various reasons, be satisfactorily obtained until towards the end of 1932. The magnetic results for Manhay for the International Polar Year 1932–33 were published in 1937.