|
 Les Hastings is a retired high school math and science teacher. As far back as he can remember he has been interested in identifying sky objects and how they fit into the scheme of things.
Early in his teaching career, Les introduced astronomy to his high school curriculum. Later, with the help of a grant, Les and another math teacher organized a space science class. They used the Galileo spacecraft as the theme that connected several years of classes together following the Galileo project from conception to the final crash down.
One of the highlights in his life was the viewing of the Supernova 1987A. It was only visible in the southern hemisphere, and he just happened to be teaching astronomy to a high school class in Australia as an exchange teacher.
Supernova 1987A was the first one visible to the naked eye since 1604, when Johannes Kepler discovered one in Ophiuchus. The current supernova was in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Sometimes great teaching moments fall right out of the sky.
|
