On a Saturday in September, 13-year-old José Valdes Rodriguez is in his room, using a stellar evolution and structure simulator to find the mass of a hypothetical galaxy.
“I took 50 stars from each spectral type and multiplied the resulting masses by their respective frequencies,” he said. “Eventually I would take that, divide it by 5,000 … what I ended up with is the average mass of every single star in the universe.”
José isn’t doing homework. The equation is just a little project he did for fun.
“I was doing it so that I could find a way, if I wanted to mathematically construct a galaxy, and wanted to know how massive it was,” he said.
The Esquimalt teen has only two Grade 12 courses — PhysEd and Indigenous Studies — left to complete high school, which he takes through distance learning. He’s already auditing a first-year math and second-year astronomy course as part of an accelerated entry to the University of Victoria.
He audited the first-year astronomy course when he was 11.
It’s uncertain if the university will grant him credits for the courses, but he said he receives certificates of completion for each.
“I don’t really care what others think about me,” he said of being the youngest student in his classes. “I’m just learning.”
Diagnosed with autism when he was 31/2, José showed a strong memory and knack for learning early on, said his mother, Cynthia Rodriguez. He soaks up geography, history and math like a sponge. But astronomy has been his most enduring passion.
“He doesn’t play with a ball or go on a bike — that’s what his enjoyment is: learning,” she said.
For several years, Rodriguez has been taking her son to the weekly UVic astronomy open house, where he is free to ask questions and engage in debates with other students and faculty.
It was at one of these sessions that José first met Karun Thanjavur, the senior lab instructor in the University of Victoria’s department of physics and astronomy.
Thanjavur has now known José for several years, and recommended getting the budding academic back for more classes.
“Karun asked if he wanted to audit Astronomy 250,” Rodriguez recalled. “I said: ‘That’s a second-year course isn’t it?’
“Karun said: “Yeah, but he’s ready for it.’ ”
Because he requires a chaperone, José and his mother sit in the back of the class so she can still do her online work as an IT developer. José is just thrilled to be there. He completes weekly labs and has access to the full course materials.
He said Astronomy 250 is teaching him about astrophysics or, in his words, “the physics governing the heavens.”w
“A lot of astronomy comes with lots of physics. And physics, by definition, comes with lots and lots of math,” he said. “It’s not just knowing that ‘this happens because of this,’ it’s knowing the laws, and knowing how to mathematically predict something.”
So passionate is the young astronomer that his teacher had to limit his question period at the end of class to 10 minutes. “He has questions for everything the instructor says, so she has to put a limit on his questions,” Rodriguez said. “That’s why he likes the astronomy open house — he goes there and he can discuss everything. People challenge his ideas and he challenges other people’s ideas.”
José said he tries to rein in his fervent curiosity, sometimes to no avail.
“When somebody is talking about astronomy, sometimes I just cannot shut up because I am so excited about the topic,” he said.
On days he doesn’t have university, José attends John Stubbs Middle School, where he can take his final Grade 12 courses via distance learning and participate in Grade 8 courses like French and music with other students.
He plans to attend his Grade 8 graduation at the end of this year, but is undecided on going to high school. While he hopes to earn a scholarship and complete a four-year physics and astronomy degree at UVic, the timing is uncertain.
“I’m just doing the [high school] courses, but I’m not knowing what it’s actually like to be there,” he said. “It’s a tough choice. I still want the experience of socializing with high schoolers.”
