STUDENTS at St Bede’s Catholic Middle School were seeing stars when they took part in their annual astronomy event.

Pupils and parents at both the school’s Catholic and Ogden partnerships also joined in with the activities, which included seeing the planet Jupiter and some of its moons.

Astronomer Dr Johanna Jarvis led spectators through the night sky showing different constellations and stars which were at various stages of their lifecycle.

Members of the school's PTFA provided soup and hot drinks to help counter the cold weather.

A school spokesman said: "The weather was not as kind as in previous years and opportunities to go outside were limited by thin clouds that made direct observation somewhat problematic. Dr Jarvis is, however, a remarkable speaker and the audience were enthralled with the journey that she took us on.

"The audience was left fascinated by the prospect of Betegeuse going supernova in the not too distant future and providing a second light in the sky during daylight hours.

"Despite the somewhat disappointing weather conditions we did manage to take advantage of some gaps in the cloud to use Dr Jarvis’ impressive range of telescopes.

"I foresee a surge in telescope, binocular and planisphere sales in Redditch – and it won’t be for the children.

"Fun and educational – what more could we have asked for?"