Students of Mount Tamalpais College, San Quentin’s onsite college program, gazed through a telescope at worlds far beyond the facility’s walls while participating in an innovative astronomy course this past spring semester.
On a clear January evening, a volunteer instructor set up the tripod-mounted device outside the education building and turned it toward Jupiter, which was bright in the eastern sky. He used the attached viewfinder to focus on the planet and students took turns peeking through the lens. They could see the big planet’s larger moons with the aid of the powerful telescope.
“We have so few chances to see beyond these prison walls. But there we were, watching four moons orbit Jupiter almost 500 million miles away,” said San Quentin resident and astronomy student Steve Matlak.
Later that same evening the device was turned toward the west where the students enjoyed a view of Saturn and its beautiful rings.
Student Kelon Williams was in awe, “Having the ability of the telescope in class made the observation projects so tangible. Looking at Jupiter and Saturn while attempting to wrap my head around the distance of what I’m seeing was mind-bending.”
These unprecedented opportunities for incarcerated residents to study astronomy with the aid of a telescope was one manifestation of the recent evolution of San Quentin from prison to rehabilitation center.
Zaw Htet, PhD, the college’s Math and Science Program director, coordinated with CDCR to make the telescope possible for the class. Previous Mt. Tam astronomy courses were not allowed to bring in such a device.
“It’s wonderful to be able to arrange to bring in science equipment and supplies for science classes, as meaningful science learning happens through hands-on observation,” said Htet.
Timothy Young, another student of the class and avid space enthusiast, talked about his experience, “Being able to use a telescope in our astronomy class was awesome because space is [an] extraordinary and infinite area to examine. Wow!”
Research physicist Andrew Westphal and doctoral candidate Rowan Duim, both of the University of California, Berkeley served as Mt. Tam’s volunteer instructor team for the innovative astronomy course that utilized the telescope.
Duim and Westphal “flipped” the classroom by minimizing lectures and instead emphasizing hands-on learning and collaboration among students. The telescope was an integral part of their hands-on, interactive approach.
The final observation assignment for the semester involved using the telescope to view a full Venus, which sat just above Mount Tamalpais on the horizon. Students took turns gazing at the bright planet, drew sketches, and took notes to record what they saw. They were to imagine themselves as Galileo seeing Venus through a telescope for the first time.
In Galileo’s day, most people still considered Earth the center of the universe, a belief known as the geocentric model. Students were asked whether they thought Galileo would question the geocentric model based on what he saw when he viewed Venus through his telescope.
At the final meeting of the astronomy class in April, student Patrick Poteat reflected on what the telescope experience meant for him. “Really awesome to see through the telescope! Made the class extra special for me. I like all things space and to actually observe Jupiter’s moons was a standout.”