The South Texas Astronomical Society and Christina Torres Memorial Observatory at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley will team up from 7-8:30 p.m. Saturday to share the latest space science research and host a virtual stargazing tour of the spring night sky to celebrate the vernal equinox.
The event will be livestreamed on Facebook and via YouTube live, with guest speakers from the STARS organization and the Christina Torres Memorial Observatory, which is UTRGV’s optical observatory in the Resaca de la Palma State Park near Olmito.
Twice each year, day and night fall into balance, lasting for nearly equal lengths. Known as equinoxes—Latin for “equal night”—they occur in March and September, and along with solstices, mark the changing of seasons as Earth travels around the sun. Saturday, March 20, is the day when many around the world mark the vernal equinox.
The CTMO is the primary astronomical research facility at UTRGV and is operated by members of the Time Domain Astronomy Group at the Center for Gravitational Wave Research under the direction of Dr. Mario Diaz.
The STARS organization is raffling items for donations during Saturday’s event. The Facebook event page is https://fb.me/e/4Vc92ujow. The livestream link is www.facebook.com/STARSocietyRGV. The YouTube live stream link is https://youtu.be/sOO1vSx3zP8.
