Total Eclipse 2017 In Tennessee: Nashville Health Department Offers Free Glasses

NASHVILLE, TN — Nashville's Health Department is giving away 500 free pairs of viewing glasses for this month's total solar eclipse.

The glasses will be available August 1-4 from 9 a.m to 3 p.m. at the Lentz Public Health Center at 2500 Charlotte Avenue. The Health Department will give away one pair per person while supplies last. (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Middle Tennessee Patch morning newsletter.)

A booth at the Lentz Public Health Center will be staffed with health department officials offering brochures with eclipse information for the Nashville area, which will have one of the longest periods of totality in the country when the eclipse goes coast to coast August 21.

Viewing the sun with the naked eye can cause permanent damage within seconds and NASA is warning that some of the glasses being sold as safe are, in fact, ineffective for protecting eye health.

Image via Metro Nashville Department of Health