Billions of years old craters, mountains and valleys of the moon, lying 400,000 kilometers away from the Earth, were seen up close from the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE) lawns at the Lunar Observation Session held on January 24, 2018.
The event was organised in a collaboration between Lifetime Learning at LUMS, Lahore Astronomical Society and SPADES. The observation took place in the First-Quarter phase, where the moon is half-lit and looks like the letter ‘D’. This is known to be the perfect phase for a Lunar Observation.
A record total of five state-of-the-art telescopes were used to observe the moon. Over 200 people attended the event, and for most of these individuals this was the first time looking at the Moon up close.
Since Lifetime Learning at LUMS encourages experiential learning by ensuring that participants get hands-on experience and practical knowledge, the students of the current Astronomy course at Lifetime Learning were also a part of the host team at this Lunar Observation. They handled the telescopes themselves and also educated the public on what they were seeing through the eyepiece. This was their first time doing an astronomy education outreach for the LUMS Community. They also took pictures of the Moon from the eyepiece using their phones.
