By Amanda A. Taylor-Uchoa
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – MAY 21, 2025 – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s H-E-B Planetarium is soaring, thanks to an $85,000 gift from H-E-B that is funding significant technology upgrades to the facility.
In April, a new state-of-the-art digital projector was installed in the 40-seat planetarium, offering audiences a sharper and more vibrant viewing experience.
Dr. Cristina Villalobos, the Myles and Sylvia Aaronson Endowed Professor of Mathematics, founding director of the Center of Excellence in STEM Education, and interim Dean of the Honors College said the new digital projector is crucial.
"It’s a vital piece of equipment that we’ve needed for several years now. With its high resolution, we hope this projector attracts many more K-12 students and the surrounding community to the H-E-B Planetarium, sparking their interest in astronomy," she said.
Linda Tovar, H-E-B director of public affairs for the border region, said supporting initiatives like the UTRGV H-E-B Planetarium is an important investment in local youth and educational opportunities.
"It’s crucial for us to make time to connect, to understand the university’s needs and long-term goals,” Tovar said. “It’s important for us to provide opportunities like this for our children here in South Texas, especially since many can’t travel out of the area to see other planetariums. It’s great that this exists within their own community."
The new technology greatly enhances indoor programming at the planetarium. The projector delivers acute visual clarity to educational presentations, while providing a new set of films.
Christian Hernandez, program specialist at the H-E-B Planetarium, said the new equipment significantly elevates the planetarium’s offerings.
"Kids love it," Hernandez said. "We have slam dunk events all the time. I think the donors and community will be impressed with the picture quality on the new projector. I’ve visited a few major planetariums around the nation, including one in Denver, and I can confidently say that we now can offer a competitive viewing experience."
Hernandez said plans are underway to expand regular public events.
"We’re going to start training with newly purchased telescopes, and hopefully by the fall we can coordinate the stargazing events every Tuesday," he said. "With four telescopes at our disposal, we are excited to expand our events so more people can visit and enjoy."
Idalia Mejía, program coordinator for the UTRGV Center of Excellence in STEM Education, highlighted the benefits of the upgraded planetarium for young learners.
"This is a great opportunity for the students in our community to come in and learn," she said. "It is going to provide them with a better understanding of what’s out there, and they will be able to learn so much from the films shown and the information presented."
The UTRGV H-E-B Planetarium has served as an essential educational resource for the Rio Grande Valley for decades, offering K-12 outreach, public shows and hands-on STEM learning experiences. In this academic year alone, more than 2,000 K-12 students and guests visited the H-E-B Planetarium and many more schools requested presentations from the mobile planetarium.
Details about upcoming public shows and the new fall stargazing series will be announced later this year.
For more information about the UTRGV H-E-B Planetarium, visit www.utrgv.edu/planetarium.
ABOUT UTRGV
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine and a School of Podiatry, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.
UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, Weslaco, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015; the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016, and the School of Podiatric Medicine in the fall of 2022.
