John McDonald – 1936-2026 – In Memorium

John McDonald photographing and obseving the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse from a balcony aboard the Discovery Princess

Dr. W. John McDonald, 1936-2026 John became active in astronomy in 2005 when he found some RASC Victoria Centre members who were equally passionate about capturing the night sky through cameras, lenses and telescopes.

Always the passionate scientist, John was also involved in amateur research as it relates to astronomy and astrophysics. He enjoyed the social aspects of being involved in one of Canada’s venerable Learned Societies, attending conferences, general meetings and star parties, and encouraging other members to participate and contribute to the mission of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

UVic Presentation: The McKellar Telescope:  Discovering Worlds Beyond our Sun – Allen Keefe

1943 72-inch mirror with Pearce, unknown & McKellar and 1.2m telescope with the McKellar spectrograph

Date/Time: Wednesday January 14, 2026 starting at 7:30PM Location: University of Victoria, Bob Wright Centre, Lecture Theatre A104

You may be familiar with the 1.8m Plaskett telescope at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (DAO), but it is not the only noteworthy telescope on the hill. Located just across the road from the visitor’s centre, the 1.2m telescope and McKellar spectrograph has a vibrant history as well. Its namesake, Andrew McKellar, did lots of important work with spectroscopy at the DAO and designed the telescope’s coudé spectrograph. It saw first light in 1962 and has been in use for active research ever since. This talk will dive into Andrew McKellar’s research, his design of the coudé spectrograph, how spectroscopy works, and the role it has played in past and present astronomy research.