High school students, including one from George C. Marshall High School, have discovered a new star that spins as fast as a Formula 1 race car’s engine. This discovery may someday help astronomers detect ripples in spacetime known as gravitational waves.

The special star, called a millisecond pulsar, was discovered independently by Emily Phan of George C. Marshall High School and Jessica Pal of Rowan County High School on Jan. 17, and was confirmed by Anne Agee, Max Sterling, and Sydney Dydiw. These students are part of the Pulsar Search Collaboratory project, run by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia, and West Virginia University.