In honor of International Observe the Moon Night , Timothy Glotch, astronomy professor, spoke to a full lecture hall in the Earth and Space building, with his lecture on the latest discoveries in lunar science from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Spacecraft, or LROC.

“It’s really opening up the entire moon to us for the first time,” said Glotch, who has been studing the moon for roughly three years and Mars for ten  “It’s really kind of strange that it’s 2010 now, we’ve been studying the moon with space craft since the 60s and for the first time we’re going to be getting this global high resolution imagery.”

LROC, which was launched in June of 2009, has recognized a type of rock on the moon that has not been seen before on Earth.

Following the lecture, Glotch, along with the help of the astronomy club, invited the audience  to view the moon through the telescopes on the roof of the building.

Glotch says he has always been interested in space and specializes in studying mineralogy and uses the data collected in both his lab and from space.

“Better data gives us better science,” Glotch said about the importance of LROC.

Glotch hopes that by having a day each year to observe the moon, more people will be interested in sciences. With the United States falling behind on the international field of math and sciences, Glotch hopes events like these will spark the interest in people everywhere.

According to Glotch, with finds of new minerals and other objects on the moon, more will be understood more Earth, making studying the moon vital.

Glotch wishes that this event will be repeated next year with just as much success.