Jean Michel Jarre to headline Jodrell Bank festival Bluedot

Bluedot said Jarre's show should be "one of the most spectacular in his long career"

Veteran French composer Jean Michel Jarre is to headline a new "festival of discovery" to be held under the iconic Lovell Telescope.

Bluedot, named after an image of Earth taken by Voyager 1, will also see Underworld and Caribou top the bill at Cheshire's Jodrell Bank Observatory.

The three-day festival, which begins on 22 July, will see science events, such as pulsar hunting and robot workshops.

Observatory director Prof Tim O'Brien said it would "blow people's minds".

The festival will be Jarre's only UK festival date and will follow the May release of Electronica 2: The Heart of Noise, his 15th studio album which features collaborations with the Pet Shop Boys, Cyndi Lauper, Primal Scream, Peaches and The Orb.

BBC Radio 4's The Infinite Monkey Cage will record a show on site

A Bluedot spokeswoman said that given the "stunning backdrop" of the radio telescope, "it can only be imagined Jean Michel's performance will be one of the most spectacular in his long career".

The musical line-up will include Mercury Rev, Everything Everything, Public Service Broadcasting, British Sea Power and 65daysofstatic, while the "science and culture programme" will play out across "five distinct arenas".

Prof Brian Cox and Robin Ince's irreverent look at science on BBC Radio 4, The Infinite Monkey Cage, will also record a show on site.

The observatory, which has been in action for over seven decades and was voted Britain's greatest unsung landmark in 2006, has previously held hosted shows by the likes of New Order, Sigur Ros and the Halle Orchestra.

Prof O'Brien said the new festival would "celebrate our planet in the vast cosmos, showcasing humanity's creative achievements in arts, science, technology and the exploration of space".

Bluedot takes its name from the photo of Earth that Voyager 1 took while leaving the Solar System