A night of lunar study brought students and their families together over the weekend.
This event was held in honor of International Observe the Moon Night.
In the outdoor plaza of the NSCW building on NE Campus stood an array of telescopes pointed at the moon, one of which was connected to a camera that projected live footage of the celestial object.
Inside, there were displays of moonrocks, meteors, posters containing fun facts about the moon and moon pies to snack on.
Raymond Benge, professor of astronomy and physics, hosted the event with several student volunteers.
It all began back in 2009 when the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft arrived at the moon. Every year since, NASA has partnered with colleges, libraries, museums and astronomy clubs all over the world to host events for International Observe the Moon Night. This year, NE decided to join in on the fun.
“It’s a shared experience,” Benge said. “To get people interested in the moon, interested in exploration and inspire them to study the moon.”
Students, alongside community members and even small children, all stood together under the moonlight, gazing at the night sky.
Benge was happy to share knowledge not just about the moon, but about the stars too. He drew together a small crowd and pointed out the summer triangle, an asterism, and the planet Venus, which appears star-like when observing it from Earth. He then presented the crowd with several small moonrock samples that were a part of the colleges collection, which were passed around.
Grace Johnson, an astronomy student, operated a display table inside showcasing several more rocks and meteorite samples. One of the meteorites on display was believed to be even older than the Earth itself. Additionally, Johnson shared more information about the astronomy program.
“The cool thing about being in this program is that you can teeter between a bunch of different things,” Johnson said. “We learn the basic components of astronomy, but the classes that involve way more math, science and in-depth studies are going to be at a higher-level school.”
Hadley Flanagan, vice president of the NE Astronomy Club, was also in attendance. She said when she heard that this event would be held, she texted the club group chat, and said that she hoped to see everyone there.
“It really took off,” she said. “I knew the telescopes would be out, but I didn’t know they would have all these posters set up with the big projection of the moon and all the snacks and everything. They did a really great job.”
Flanagan said that anyone can join the Astronomy Club. They often get together to gaze at the stars, and during finals they’ll meet up to watch movies and relax. Last year, the club watched “Interstellar.”
