HUNDREDS of eyes across Oxfordshire will be on the skies tonight as stargazing sessions are staged across the county.

A network has been established across the UK between astronomers and community groups called Dark Sky Discovery, to tie in with BBC2’s Stargazing Live season this week.

One of the main local events is being held today at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory at Harwell Oxford, between 4.30pm and 8pm.

There will be indoor and outdoor stargazing activities, telescope clinics and planetarium shows. A similar event last year attracted more than 300 people.

Visitors would also be able to see Mars rover prototypes operating.

Aron Kisdi, space systems engineer at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, pictured right, with outreach manager Sophy Palmer, said: “The children have so much fun with the rovers and the added bonus for us is that children using them is a good test for how robust they are.”

Although the event is free, it is already “fully subscribed” so people should not just turn up on the night.

Oxford University is also staging a stargazing session tomorrow, from 2pm to 10pm, at the Denys Wilkinson building at the Department of Physics in Keble Road, North Oxford.

Last entry is at 9.30pm.