On Friday evening, youll have the opportunity to see a few of our neighboring planets as well as the moon and the sunon through the lens of 20 expensive telescopes that you and I cannot afford. Fortunately, the D.C. area astronomers are willing to share, as they do every year at the annual Astronomy Night on the Mall.

The event is free Friday from 6 to 11 p.m. All you have to do is show up on the northeast grounds of the Washington Monument. Youll see a lot of telescopes with lines of people trailing behind them. Each scope is usually trained on a specificspace object another planet, the moon, maybe a nearby comet.

The event will offerspace geeks hands-on activities, demonstrations, hand-outs, posters, banners, and videos; a planetarium show with a portable blow-up dome, speakers from scientific and educational organization, and a chance to mingle with astronomers.

The event is organized and hosted by Hofstra Universityalong with volunteers from all of the big science organizations the National Science Foundation, the Carnegie Institution for Science, the International Dark Sky Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club and the American Geophysical Union. Scientists from these groups will be on hand tooffer demonstrations and discussion.

This is theeighth annual Mall event that organizer Don Lubowich, astronomy outreach coordinator at Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y., has assembled.

Rain location: School Without Walls High School, 2130 G St. NW.

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Space geeks: Astronomy Night on the National Mall is tomorrow and it's free - Washington Post