
Are you ready for the eclipse?
This story and more about resident life at Covenant Village is published in the April 2024 edition of The Villager newsletter.
In 2024, a Solar Eclipse will take place on April 8. Resident John McDonald, an amateur astronomer, is helping Covenant Village prepare for the astral occurrence.
Mr. McDonald is a volunteer NASA Solar System Ambassador! Recently, Lisa Shirley, Founders Hall Concierge, sat down with him to talk about the upcoming solar eclipse and how he became interested in astronomy.

When Mr. McDonald was in college in the mid-1960s, he took a physics of photography class with Ross Scroggs, who ran the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill photo lab and was an amateur astronomer. He introduced Mr. McDonald to the world of astronomy. Mr. McDonald said he was “intrigued by what you can learn through a small telescope in your backyard.” When I asked Mr. McDonald to share the coolest thing he had ever seen, he not only told me, but he also showed me pictures! Mr. McDonald traveled to Australia to check out the heavens of the Southern Hemisphere. Residents who attended his presentation at Covenant Village in March saw his incredible photos.
Mr. McDonald is an active member of the Charlotte Astronomy Club and participates in “Star Parties.” I know what you must be thinking, “what on earth is a star party?” I had the same question. It’s when club members get together with their telescopes and look at the stars. They have presentations to learn about each other’s findings too. The club hosts two major events a year, Southern Star in the spring and a Fall Star Party in Little Switzerland, NC, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. They can even look at the sun with a special filter.
On April 8, Mr. McDonald plans to have his telescope, a 1960’s Questar, set up in the parking lot at Covenant Village (weather permitting.) You’re invited to look at the eclipse through his telescope and gain a better perspective of our sun and moon and how magnificent our solar system is.
by Lisa Shirley, Founders Hall Concierge