A promotion giving away free solar eclipse glasses was a success, but not all were happy

The great solar eclipse glasses giveaway was just like the eclipse will be on Monday -- once it started there was no stopping it, and when it was done there were a few disappointed people.

CTV News London, in conjunction with partner radio stations, gave away free, eclipse-safe glasses on Sunday.

It was promoted that the glasses would be available from 12 p.m. until 3 p.m., but the parking lot at 1 Communications Rd. started filling up at 9:30 a.m.

By 11 a.m. the decision was made to start handing out the glasses to those already lined up.

Within a half an hour, the approximately 500 pairs of glasses were gone.

However, cars kept pouring into the parking lot, and while some people took the news that there were no glasses left in stride, others felt it was unfair to start the giveaway early.

Staff remained on scene to explain that the early arrivals were always going to be the ones to get the glasses first and it didn’t make sense to wait any longer to begin the giveaway. 

 

What to know about Monday's eclipse 

As experts have already cautioned over the previous weeks, looking directly at a solar eclipse with the naked eye can cause devastating damage, and therefore special glasses are needed to safely view the astronomical phenomenon. Eclipse glasses must have a international standard certification of ISO 12312-2.

The path of totality only spans 200 kilometres wide, and with London sitting on the edge, the Forest City will only see a partial solar eclipse.

In London, the eclipse will begin on April 8 at 2:01 p.m., peaking at 3:17 p.m., and ending at 4:29 p.m.

In order to experience full totality, viewers must head south towards Elgin County and Lake Erie. In our region, St. Thomas, Port Stanley, Tillsonburg and Aylmer are some of the communities in the path of 100 per cent totality, where the duration of totality will last for between one and two minutes.

If weather permits, viewers in this region will see the moon completely cover the sun as it plunges the region into darkness and exposes the sun’s atmosphere, also known as its corona, creating a brilliant halo.

-- With files from CTV News London’s Sean Irvine, CTV News Toronto’s Alex Arsenych and CTV News Ottawa's Dylan Dyson