variable star

Also known as Var

star whose brightness as seen from Earth fluctuates

AI overview

A variable star is a star whose brightness changes over time as seen from Earth. These stars matter because their brightness patterns help astronomers measure cosmic distances and understand what's happening inside stars.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Image: Eso2003c.jpg

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Commons category: Variable stars
Stack Exchange tag: astronomy.stackexchange.com/tags/variable-star
short name: Var

Sources (6)

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Article

Comparison of VLT-SPHERE images of Betelgeuse taken in January 2019 and December 2019, showing the changes in brightness and shape. Betelgeuse is an intrinsically variable star.

A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes systematically with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are classified as either: