A-LEVEL physics students at Nelson and Colne College Sixth Form enjoyed a star-studded weekend in Kielder, part of the Northumberland dark sky park.

A total of 33 students reached for the stars during the weekend, when they star-gazed and had various astronomy discussions.

The group also climbed Deadwater Fell where the students were able to see the Ministry of Defence radar array atop the hill, which controls the local airspace for NATO jets which use the area over the park for low-flying exercises.

Sam Barnes, head of division for science and maths, said: “We all had an incredible time at Kielder and the students certainly gained a lot from the trip. Views of the moon, Jupiter and comet C/2011 W3, aka Comet Lovejoy, were amazing and well worth staying up until the early hours of the morning to see.

“We’ll definitely be back next year to inspire the next generation of astrophysicists.”