Cepheid variable

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Related to Cepheid variable star: Delta Cepheid, Period-luminosity relationship

Cepheid variable

(ˈsiːfɪɪd)
n
(Astronomy) astronomy any of a class of variable stars with regular cycles of variations in luminosity (most ranging from three to fifty days). There is a relationship between the periods of variation and the absolute magnitudes, which is used for measuring the distance of such stars
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Ce′pheid var`iable


n.
a variable star with a short period of 1 to 50 days in which changes in brightness are due to alternations in volume.
[1900–05; Cephe (us) + -id1]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive ?
Polaris is what astronomers call a Cepheid variable star, a pulsating star used by scientists to measure distances in space.
North Star 'Polaris' closer to Earth than thought
This is important because Polaris A is a Cepheid variable star. Learning more about these stars will help us to understand how they evolve and knowing the mass of a star is a vital step towards that understanding.
ARCHIVE: Good time to spot dazzling Saturn; Astronomical notes for February by Gill Pilfold of the Birmingham Astronomical Society
Quantifying the shapes of Cepheid variable star light curves is a technique that has been in use for the past several decades.
Analysis of Data Gathered by Hipparcos Satellite on Cepheid Variable Stars
A classic Cepheid variable star, Mekbuda cycles between magnitudes 3.6 and 4.2 every ten days.
Gemini city sights: the deep-sky treasures scattered across the Twins look great in backyard scopes
High overhead toward the north on fall evenings is Cepheus, a constellation that's probably best known for hosting the prototype Cepheid variable star. Delta Cephei is easy to follow with the naked eye.
Pulsing stars in Cepheus: check in on these happening stars, both famous and obscure
Fernie of David Dunlap Observatory, [states] that a very well-known Cepheid variable star, RU Camelopardalis, has recently ceased to pulsate and now appears to be practically constant in brightness!
June 1966: ex-variable star?
Zeta is a Cepheid variable star and, according to Daniel Majaess and colleagues (Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2012), a star-cluster member.
Isles of light: let the colorful stars of Gemini brighten your journey along the Milky Way
The easternmost star is X Cygni, a Cepheid variable star with a period of 16.4 days and a magnitude range of 5.9 to 6.9.
Millions together: the stars gather close in the southern wing of Cygnus the Swan
My 10x50s intermittently pull in about a half-dozen stars, including Cepheid variable star DL Cassiopeiae, parked on the cluster's northwestern edge.
Binocular highlight: treasures in Cass
W is a Cepheid variable star whose pulsations bring it from magnitude 5.1 to 4.3 and back over a period of 71/2 days.
Magic nights of stars: explore some of the bewitching lesser-known objects in Sagittarius
It's also the brightest and nearest Cepheid variable star, changing brightness with a 3.97-day period.
Polaris's pulsations pick up
All authors of the article, published in Science, are the University of Warsaw employees: 'A three-dimensional map of the Milky Way using classical Cepheid variable stars', D.M.
University of Warsaw: World media on a unique map of the Milky Way

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