Andover resident Eric Viandier, an amateur astronomer since childhood and longtime teacher of the subject at Proctor Academy, will offer an evening tour of the moon and other objects in the night sky on Friday, September 25, at Andover’s town beach at Highland Lake off Channel Road in East Andover. Both adults and children are invited at no charge. (Program is canceled if clouds prevent viewing.)

Sponsored by the Andover Institute, an arm of the Andover Community Association, the program will begin at 8:30 PM and include viewing through a powerful telescope, presentation of lunar facts and figures, and sketching of lunar features and phases. Attendees are urged to bring folding chairs, small flashlights, paper, pencils, and binoculars.

Eric will also explain the phenomenon of lunar eclipses, one of which will occur just two days after his presentation. In the Concord area, this means the earth’s shadow will begin to fall on the moon’s surface on Sunday, September 27, at 8:11 PM; will reach maximum shadowing at 10:47 PM; and will end on Monday, September 28, at 1:22 AM.

The program is the sixth in a series of “Space Explorations” offered by the recently formed Andover Institute and designed to introduce participants to locations and experiences – both natural and man-made – that are “off the beaten path.” Previous outings have explored the facilities of Proctor Academy; the 15 or so structures that once comprised Camp Marlyn on Bradley Lake; Cascade Falls in East Andover; the old mills and other structures of downtown Franklin; and an isolated heron rookery.

For more information, e-mail AndoverCommunity03216@nullgmail.com.