Clouds clouds go away, there’s an eclipse today: Hundreds gather at UTRGV Sundial

UTRGV biology junior Efe Martins, having a day off from her classes, looks at the solar eclipse Monday, April 8, 2024, at the sundial at the UTRGV Edinburg campus. (Omar Zapata | The Monitor)

EDINBURG — Despite a cloudy day in South Texas, hundreds of spectators gathered at the Sundial at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg to view the solar eclipse.

With the help of the UTRGV department of Physics & Astronomy, South Texas Space Science Institute, the Society of Physics Students, UTRGV’s H-E-B Planetarium and the Center of Excellence in STEM Education, hundreds of eclipse glasses were handed out to onlookers.

Although the Valley did not see full totality, students gathered around noon with their protective eyewear to see the approximately 92% totality with its peak around 1:30 p.m.

PhD program coordinator for the School of Rehabilitation Services and Counseling Sandra Hansmann, Graduate College Program Manager Shay Nelson and Communications Associate Professor Kimberly Selber took part in the eclipse together — all while listening to Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.”

“I think that Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ is an absolutely iconic album to play during the eclipse, because it’s all about darkness and the eventuality of light emerging once again, even when light has been temporarily extinguished,” Hansmann said.

Nelson said she only recently discovered Pink Floyd, to the shock of her colleagues, but appreciated the symbolism in the band’s lyrics.

“I think that the music to that album, it has such a celestial feel to it, that you feel like you’re floating in space,” Selber said.

UTRGV biology junior Efe Martins and her friend Diane Joseph were also among the attendees at the event, during which they shared a pair of eclipse glasses.

“I was happy to experience it today,” Martins said. “I hope to see it again, probably in like 2040.”

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Hundreds gathered Monday, April 8, 2024, at the sundial at the UTRGV Edinburg campus with glasses provided by the UTRGV department of Physics & Astronomy, South Texas Space Science Institute, the Society of Physics Students, UTRGV’s H-E-B Planetarium and the Center of Excellence in STEM Education. (Omar Zapata | The Monitor)

Graduate College Program Manager Shay Nelson, left, PhD program coordinator for the School of Rehabilitation Services and Counseling Sandra Hansmann, and Communications Associate Professor Kimberly Selber look at the total solar eclipse while listening to Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” Monday, April 8, 2024, at the sundial at the UTRGV Edinburg campus. (Omar Zapata | The Monitor)

University Marketing & Communications Digital Engagement Coordinator Christopher Cabello, right, and Jaycen Perez look onto the camera’s screen with a daystar filter to take some snaps of the eclipse Monday, April 8, 2024, at the sundial at the UTRGV Edinburg campus. (Omar Zapata | The Monitor)

Clinical Psychology Doctoral student Andy Torres stares in amazement at the total solar eclipse Monday, April 8, 2024, at the sundial at the UTRGV Edinburg campus. (Omar Zapata | The Monitor)

UTRGV mechanical engineer junior Pablo Haro looks on at the solar eclipse Monday, April 8, 2024, at the sundial at the UTRGV Edinburg campus. (Omar Zapata | The Monitor)

UTRGV biology junior Efe Martins, having a day off from her classes, looks at the solar eclipse Monday, April 8, 2024, at the sundial at the UTRGV Edinburg campus. (Omar Zapata | The Monitor)

University Marketing & Communications Digital Engagement Coordinator Christopher Cabello even brought out his own camera with a daystar filter to take some snaps of the eclipse and let students do so as well.

“We’re not in totality so, I’m not going to be able to see any of the corona and the nice haze and it’s pretty much like I’m photographing a crescent moon in the sky,” Cabello said. “The best part of the 92% totality has already happened and now I’m just allowing anybody in the vicinity if they want to photograph it and say I ‘photographed the Eclipse.’”

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