BROWNSVILLE — It has been a 10-year project in the making, but the Southmost Branch Library is finally ready for the grand opening of its new observatory.
The timing of the solar eclipse on Aug. 21 – the day of the grand opening – just happened to be a lucky coincidence.
“We were looking to find a means to engage the youth at the library in an educational manner that was exciting and an out-of-the-box type program,” said Jerry Hedgecock, the director of the city public information services department. “Astronomy is one of those things, like dinosaurs. Those are the books that always get checked out. They are a very popular subject.”
The $90,000 project was primarily funded through community development block grants.
The observatory is a classic dome shape with a shutter. Inside the observatory is a 14-inch telescope. Everything is controlled digitally, Hedgecock said.
“Dealing with people’s eyesight is not really conducive to when you want to go through the whole program, so the scope is designed to show what is displayed digitally. There are two large high definition monitors set up for programs,” Hedgecock said. “It’s designed from the point of view of providing an educational program.”
Although the city is not hiring an instructor for the observatory right now, it is a possibility in the future.
It would depend on how much use the observatory sees, Hedgecock said.
Weather-permitting, the city expects to have programming throughout the fall and winter. Because of the time change, it gets dark early, and with the cold fronts, there are much clearer skies, Hedgecock said.
The Southmost Branch Library was chosen as the location of the new observatory because of the large population of children and young adults in the Southmost district. The library had the land space and was also further away from light pollution.
Hedgecock said the library may be the first in the state to have a permanent observatory.
“It goes in line with what the library has done since its existence. It has been the first to provide a lot of innovative services here in South Texas,” Hedgecock said.
The grand opening begins at 10:30 a.m. and ends at 1:30 p.m. Monday. The library will set up a portable planetarium and a moon rocks display. The first 1,000 people to attend will receive solar eclipse viewing glasses. Free food and drinks will be provided.
The library has also invited NASA astronaut Col. Michael Fossum to speak.
“Col. Fossum grew up in McAllen. We found out about him through some other programs staff had attended and we decided to contact him to see if he would be interested,” Hedgecock said. “He was extremely interested and is excited about doing it. We’re really excited he’s going to be here.”
