Where to get solar eclipse glasses in Ottawa

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People in Ottawa can’t quite expect total darkness during the solar eclipse on April 8. Effective eclipse-viewing glasses will be necessary to safely up as the moon passes between the sun and Earth.

The eclipse will start at 2:10 p.m. in Ottawa, hit peak coverage at 3:25 p.m. and conclude at 4:35 p.m.

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Canada Aviation and Space Museum

Eclipse glasses are available locally, including at the Ingenium Boutique at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, where supplies are “dwindling fast,” says Ingenium science advisor Cassandra Marion. The store was forced to stop selling the glasses online.

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“People were trying to buy hundreds at a time, for classes or entire schools. We just didn’t have enough stock,” Marion said.

A full day of programming is planned at the museum on Aviation Parkway and Marion has ordered 5,000 pairs of eclipse glasses that will be given out for free with admission to the museum. There will be lectures on eclipses and eclipse safety during the day, and an outdoor presentation when the eclipse begins shortly after 2 p.m. that afternoon. Marion recommends buying tickets in advance as space is limited at the museum.

READ MORE: Five spots to see the solar eclipse in the Ottawa area on April 8

Ottawa Public Library branches

Eclipse glasses will also be distributed for free at Ottawa Public Library branches beginning Thursday morning. Quantities are limited, however, with just a few hundred pairs per branch and there will be a limit of two pairs per family.

In Ottawa, which lies just north of the path of totality, the moon will begin to move in front of the sun at about 2:10 p.m. and reach its maximum coverage at about 3:25 p.m.

Those lucky enough to be within the path of totality, a roughly 184-kilometre-wide swath that stretches across North America, from Mexico and Texas in the southwest to Newfoundland in the northeast, will see the sun completely obscured by the moon. For the few short minutes of totality, it is safe to look with the naked eye. But it’s vital to have your eyes protected again before the sun emerges.

Do you know where else people can get eclipse-viewing glasses in Ottawa? Let us know in the comments below.

Map: Path of the 2024 Solar eclipse on April 8

With files from Lynn Saxberg and Postmedia staff. 

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