SHOPPERS can turn stargazers to look into the heavens as they browse the shelves next month when astronomy students hit the streets armed with powerful telescopes.

After the success of Stargazing Oxford 2016, which saw youngsters queue out the door at Oxford University’s physics department, organisers have decided to heave their telescopes into the city centre.

Earlier this month, the stargazing event left youngsters starry-eyed as they learnt about space looking through powerful telescopes.

Becky Smethurst, a final year PhD student in astrophysics, said the event had proved popular all day.

The 25-year-old said: “We had a lot of people, it was manic. There was a queue out the door when I got there.”

Astronomy fever gripped the nation last week, after researchers at the California Institute of Technology discovered what is thought to be a huge ninth planet.

Astronauts Scott Kelly and Tim Peake also hit the headlines with breathtaking images of the Northern Lights taken from the International Space Station.

Richard Gilbert, from Abingdon, went to the stargazing event with his three-year-old daughter Ava and five-year-old son Charlie.

He said: “They have just got to the point where they’re interested in looking at the stars and reading books about them. I really appreciate things like that being on.

“We got to see the craters on the moon. It’s so much more educational than going to the play centre. It’s quite stimulating.”

Organiser Mark Richardson, a post doctoral researcher in astrophysics, said: “The people who came to the stargazing event were proactive in coming and actively seeking us out.”

The 28-year-old said they wanted to hook more people on astronomy, by taking telescopes into Cornmarket Street and letting passers-by look to the skies.

He said: “We are hoping to take some solar telescopes just to allow people walking around to look at the sun or moon or whatever is out, to expand the amount of impact.

“These events are important because you really are accessing another group of people and getting them involved in something they might not normally do.”

The events will start in February.