People gather in South Florida to see Great American Eclipse

MIAMI – It's the moment for which people in the U.S. waited all day -- or 37 years, to be precise -- as a tiny sliver of sun peeked out from behind the moon.

"This we just made at home with some simple paper, shoe box," said Ana Guimbard as she showed off a device she made to watch Monday's solar eclipse.

Guimbard and her family came prepared for the Great American Eclipse with homemade projectors to witness the phenomenon at the Frost Museum of Science in downtown Miami.

'It's very interesting, because it goes dark in the middle of the day and it only happens a couple few years," Victoria Guimbard said.

The U.S. last experienced a solar eclipse in 1979.

Thousands packed the museum Monday as employees handed out solar glasses with the price of admission.

The coveted glasses were all gone by 1:30 p.m. right as the moon began to block the sun in South Florida.
Some people got creative to see the eclipse, but the solar eclipse glasses have a special filter that blocks most of the sun's light to protect the eye.

"Without that, you will cause serious damage to your eye even for a second," said Lindsay Bartholomew, of the Frost Museum of Science.

Peak viewing time happened just before 3 p.m. when 80 percent of the sun was blocked by the moon.

By 4:20 p.m., that shadow was gone, not to be seen again until the next time the sun, moon and earth line up just so.

"You'll remember where you were," said Ana Guimbard. "You'll probably remember the people you were with and how exciting it was."