Pupils at a Barking school have been taking part in an initiative to identify exploding stars.

Budding astronomers in Year 13 at Eastbury Community School used date from the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite, launched in 2013, to identify supernovas, or exploding stars, as part of the Book of Heavens project.

Jorgen Kolgjini, a pupil who has been working on the project, said: “We have been able to use real-life data to grasp the idea of what a supernova actually is.

“Many people think supernovae last for a few minutes, however they last for weeks and it is fascinating that an explosion takes weeks to stop emitting light.

“Extracting our own data from contemporary research has definitely been a much more fun way of learning what these objects are than reading about them.”

The school will also be collaborating with the Institute for Research in biology and chemistry lessons.