WASHINGTON -- Lucas Bolyard of Lost Creek, the West Virginia high school student who used data from the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope to discover a strange new neutron star earlier this year, was a guest of honor at a White House star-gazing party with President and Obama last week.

Bolyard, a sophomore at South Harrison High School, and 15-year-old Caroline Moore of Warwick, N.Y., stood with the president and first lady Michelle Obama at the start of a star-gazing event involving Washington, D.C.-area middle school students.

Also attending the event were astronauts Buzz Aldrin, pilot of the Apollo 11 lunar mission and the second man to walk on the moon, and Sally Ride, the Challenger space shuttle crewmember and the first American woman in space.

Bolyard analyzed raw data from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Green Bank Telescope to discover the presence of a rare type of pulsar called a rotating radio transient. His discovery came about through his involvement with the Pulsar Search Collaboratory, a joint project of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, West Virginia University and high school students across the state.

Last November, Moore, at age 14, became the youngest person in the world to discover a supernova. In her backyard observatory, she used a battery of four telescopes programmed to digitally record astronomical images. While examining data produced by her scopes, she found evidence of a supernova in the constellation Pegasus, which was later confirmed by professional observers.

Obama introduced Bolyard and Moore to the crowd, which included NASA administrator Charles Bolden and White House science advisor John Holdren. The president told students in the audience that by working hard and developing a passion for science, as demonstrated by Bolyard and Moore, they, too, could make important discoveries.

The president also joked that Bolyard "had to explain to me just what a pulsar was so that I wasn't embarrassed when I came out here."

Bolyard and Moore then joined the president and first lady in observing the night skies over Washington, using a small telescope.

WASHINGTON -- Lucas Bolyard of Lost Creek, the West Virginia high school student who used data from the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope to discover a strange new neutron star earlier this year, was a guest of honor at a White House star-gazing party with President and Obama last week.

Bolyard, a sophomore at South Harrison High School, and 15-year-old Caroline Moore of Warwick, N.Y., stood with the president and first lady Michelle Obama at the start of a star-gazing event involving Washington, D.C.-area middle school students.

Also attending the event were astronauts Buzz Aldrin, pilot of the Apollo 11 lunar mission and the second man to walk on the moon, and Sally Ride, the Challenger space shuttle crewmember and the first American woman in space.

Bolyard analyzed raw data from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Green Bank Telescope to discover the presence of a rare type of pulsar called a rotating radio transient. His discovery came about through his involvement with the Pulsar Search Collaboratory, a joint project of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, West Virginia University and high school students across the state.

Last November, Moore, at age 14, became the youngest person in the world to discover a supernova. In her backyard observatory, she used a battery of four telescopes programmed to digitally record astronomical images. While examining data produced by her scopes, she found evidence of a supernova in the constellation Pegasus, which was later confirmed by professional observers.

Obama introduced Bolyard and Moore to the crowd, which included NASA administrator Charles Bolden and White House science advisor John Holdren. The president told students in the audience that by working hard and developing a passion for science, as demonstrated by Bolyard and Moore, they, too, could make important discoveries.

The president also joked that Bolyard "had to explain to me just what a pulsar was so that I wasn't embarrassed when I came out here."

Bolyard and Moore then joined the president and first lady in observing the night skies over Washington, using a small telescope.