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(Top) 1 Notes 2 References 3 See also

List of variable stars

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As of 2017^[update], there are over 52,011 known variable stars,^[1] with more being discovered regularly, so a complete list of every single variable is impossible at this place (cf. GCVS). The following is a list of variable stars that are well-known, bright, significant, or otherwise interesting.

Designation (name)	Constellation	Discovery	Apparent magnitude (Maximum)^[2]	Apparent magnitude (Minimum)^[3]	Range of magnitude	Period	Type	Comment
R And	Andromeda		5^m.8	14^m.9	9.1	409 d	Mira variable (M)
S And (Supernova 1885)	Andromeda	Ernst Hartwig, August 20, 1885	5^m.8	16^m	10.2		Supernova (SNI)
U Ant	Antlia		8^m.1 (p)	9^m.7 (p)	1.6		LB
θ Aps	Apus		6^m.4 (p)	8^m.6 (p)	2.2	119 d	Semiregular (SRB)
η Aql	Aquila	Pigott, 1784	3^m.48	4^m.39	0.91	7.17664 d	Classical Cepheid (DCEP)
R Aql	Aquila		5^m.5	12^m.0	6.5	284 d	Mira variable (M)
V Aql	Aquila		6^m.6	8^m.4	1.8	353 d	Semiregular (SRB)
R Aqr	Aquarius	Karl Ludwig Harding, 1810	5^m.8	12^m.4	6.9	387 d	Mira variable (M)
T Aqr	Aquarius		7^m.2	14^m.2	7.0	202 d	Mira variable (M)
U Ara	Ara		7^m.7	14^m.1	6.4	225 d	Mira variable (M)
R Ari	Aries		7^m.4	13^m.7	6.3	187 d	Mira variable (M)
U Ari	Aries		7^m.2	15^m.2	8.0	371 d	Mira variable (M)
ε Aur (Almaaz)	Auriga	Johann Heinrich Fritsch, 1821	2^m.92	3^m.83	0.91	27.08 years	Eclipsing binary Algol type (EA/GS)
R Aur	Auriga		6^m.7	13^m.9	7.2	458 d	Mira variable (M)
AE Aur	Auriga		5^m.78	6^m.08	0.30		Orion variable (INA)
R Boo	Boötes		6^m.2	13^m.1	6.9	223 d	Mira variable (M)
W Boo	Boötes		4^m.73	5^m.4	0.67	450 d	Semiregular (SRB:)
X Cam	Camelopardalis		7^m.4	14^m.2	6.8	144 d	Mira variable (M)
VZ Cam	Camelopardalis		4^m.80	4^m.96	0.16	23.7 d	Semiregular (SR)
R Cap	Capricornus	Hind, 1848	9^m.4	14^m.9	5.5	345 d	Mira variable (M)
η Car	Carina	Burchell, 1827	-0^m.8	7^m.9	8.6		S Doradus (SDOR)	"The unpredictable supergiant"
l Car	Carina		3^m.28	4^m.18	0.90	35.53584 d	Classical Cepheid (DCEP)
R Car	Carina		3^m.9	10^m.5	6.6	309 d	Mira variable (M)
S Car	Carina		4^m.5	9^m.9	5.4	149 d	Mira variable (M)
γ Cas	Cassiopeia		1^m.6	3^m.0	1.4		Gamma Cassiopeiae (GCAS)
R Cas	Cassiopeia		4^m.7	13^m.5	8.9	430 d	Mira variable (M)
S Cas	Cassiopeia		7^m.9	16^m.1	8.2	612 d	Mira variable (M)
W Cas	Cassiopeia		7^m.8	12^m.5	4.7	406 d	Mira variable (M)
WZ Cas	Cassiopeia		6^m.3	8^m.5	2.2		Semiregular (SRB)	Visual double star, visible through binoculars
R Cen	Centaurus		5^m.3	11^m.8	6.5	546 d	Mira variable (M)
S Cen	Centaurus		9^m.2 (p)	10^m.7 (p)	1.5	65 d	Semiregular (SR)
T Cen	Centaurus		5^m.5	9^m.0	3.5	90.44 d	Semiregular (SRA)
V645 Cen (Proxima Centauri)	Centaurus		12^m.1 (B)	13^m.12 (B)	1.02		UV Ceti (UV)
δ Cep	Cepheus	John Goodricke, 1784	3^m.48	4^m.37	0.89	5.36634 d	Classical Cepheid (DCEP) prototype	double star, visible in binoculars
Vega	Lyra		-0^m.02	0^m.07	0.09	0.107 d	Delta Scuti variable	Brightest variable star in the sky.
μ Cep (Herschel's Garnet Star)	Cepheus	William Herschel, 1782	3^m.43	5^m.1	1.67	730 d	Semiregular (SRC)
S Cep	Cepheus		7^m.4	12^m.9	5.5	487 d	Mira variable (M)
T Cep	Cepheus		5^m.2	11^m.3	6.1	388 d	Mira variable (M)
U Cep	Cepheus		6^m.75	9^m.24	2.49	2.49305 d	Eclipsing binary Algol type (EA/SD)
SS Cep	Cepheus		8^m.0 (p)	9^m.1 (p)	1.1	90 d	Semiregular (SRB)
AR Cep	Cepheus		7^m.0	7^m.9	0.9		Semiregular (SRB)
ο Cet (Mira)	Cetus	David Fabricius, 1596; variability may have been first noted by Johannes Fokkes Holwarda, 1638	2^m.0	10^m.1	8.1	332 d	Mira variable (M)	"The miraculous" The first discovered non-ephemeral/cataclysmic variable star.
T Cet	Cetus		5^m.0	6^m.9	1.9	159 d	Semiregular (SRC)
U Cet	Cetus		6^m.8	13^m.4	6.6	235 d	Mira variable (M)
W Cet	Cetus		7^m.1	14^m.8	7.7	351 d	Mira variable (M)
R Cha	Chamaeleon		7^m.5	14^m.2	6.7	335 d	Mira variable (M)
R CMa	Canis Major		5^m.70	6^m.34	0.64	1.13594 d	Eclipsing binary Algol type (EA/SD)
VY CMa	Canis Major		6^m.5	9^m.6	3.1		unique (*)
FW CMa	Canis Major		5^m.00	5^m.50	0.50		Gamma Cassiopeiae (GCAS)
S CMi	Canis Minor		6^m.6	13^m.2	6.6	333 d	Mira variable (M)
R Cnc	Cancer		6^m.07	11^m.8	5.73	362 d	Mira variable (M)
S Cnc	Cancer	Hind, 1848	8^m.29	10^m.25	1.96	9.48455 d	Eclipsing binary Algol type (EA/DS)
T Cnc	Cancer	Hind, 1850	7^m.6	10^m.5	2.9	482 d	Semiregular (SRB)
X Cnc	Cancer		5^m.6	7^m.5	1.9	195 d	Semiregular (SRB)
T Col	Columba		6^m.6	12^m.7	6.1	226 d	Mira variable (M)
R Com	Coma Berenices		7^m.1	14^m.6	7.5	363 d	Mira variable (M)
α CrB (Alphecca or Gemma)	Corona Borealis		2^m.21 (B)	2^m.32 (B)	0.11	17.35991 d	Eclipsing binary Algol type (EA/DM)
R CrB	Corona Borealis	Piggott, 1795	5^m.71	14^m.8	9.09		R Coronae Borealis (RCB)
S CrB	Corona Borealis		5^m.8	14^m.1	8.7	360d	Mira variable (M)
T CrB	Corona Borealis		2^m.0	10^m.8	8.8	(80 years)	recurrent nova (NR)
U CrB	Corona Borealis		7^m.66	8^m.79	1.13	3.45220 d	Eclipsing binary Algol type (EA/SD)
V CrB	Corona Borealis		6^m.9	12^m.6	5.3	358 d	Mira variable (M)
W CrB	Corona Borealis		7^m.8	14^m.3	6.5	238 d	Mira variable (M)
R Cru	Crux		6^m.40	7^m.23	0.83	5.82575 d	Classical Cepheid (DCEP)
R Crv	Corvus		6^m.7	14^m.4	7.7	317 d	Mira variable (M)
χ Cyg	Cygnus	Kirch, 1686	3^m.3	14^m.2	10.9	408 d	Mira variable (M)
R Cyg	Cygnus		6^m.1	14^m.4	8.3	426 d	Mira variable (M)
U Cyg	Cygnus		5^m.9	12^m.1	6.2	463 d	Mira variable (M)
W Cyg	Cygnus		6^m.80 (B)	8^m.9 (B)	2.1	131 d	Semiregular (SRB)
X Cyg	Cygnus		5^m.85	6^m.91	1.06	16.38633 d	Classical Cepheid (DCEP)
RT Cyg	Cygnus		6^m.0	13^m.1	7.1	190 d	Mira variable (M)
SS Cyg	Cygnus		7^m.7	12^m.4	4.7	(49.5 d)	dwarf nova UGSS prototype
SU Cyg	Cygnus		6^m.44	7^m.22	0.78	3.84555 d	Classical Cepheid (DCEP)
CH Cyg	Cygnus		5^m.60	8^m.49	2.89		Z Andromedae (ZAND+SR)
R Del	Delphinus		7^m.6	13^m.8	6.2	285 d	Mira variable (M)
U Del	Delphinus		7^m.6 (p)	8^m.9 (p)	1.3	110 d	Semiregular (SRB)
EU Del	Delphinus		5^m.79	6^m.9	1.11	59.7 d	Semiregular (SRB)
β Dor	Dorado		3^m.46	4^m.08	0.62	9.8426 d	Classical Cepheid (DCEP)
S Dor	Dorado		8^m.6 (B)	11^m.5 (B)	2.9		S Doradus (SDOR) (prototype)	in the Large Magellanic Cloud
R Dra	Draco		6^m.7	13^m.2	6.5	246 d	Mira variable (M)
T Eri	Eridanus		7^m.2	13^m.2	6.0	252 d	Mira variable (M)
R For	Fornax		7^m.5	13^m.0	5.5	389 d	Mira variable (M)
η Gem (Propus)	Gemini		3^m.15	3^m.9	0.75	233 d	Semiregular (SRA+EA)
ζ Gem (Mekbuda)	Gemini		3^m.62	4^m.18	0.56	10.15073 d	Classical Cepheid (DCEP)
R Gem	Gemini	Hind, 1848	6^m.0	14^m.0	8.0	370 d	Mira variable (M)
S Gem	Gemini	Hind, 1848	8^m.0	14^m.7	6.7	293 d	Mira variable (M)
T Gem	Gemini	Hind, 1848	8^m.0	15^m.0	7.0	288 d	Mira variable (M)
U Gem	Gemini		8^m.2	14^m.9	6.7	(105.2 d)	dwarf nova (UGSS+E)
S Gru	Grus		6^m.0	15^m.0	9.0	402 d	Mira variable (M)
α Her (Rasalgethi)	Hercules	William Herschel, 1759	2^m.74	4^m.0	1.26		Semiregular (SRC)
g Her (30 Her)	Hercules		4^m.3	6^m.3	2.0	89.2 d	Semiregular (SRB)
u Her (68 Her)	Hercules		4^m.69	5^m.37	0.68	2.05103 d	Eclipsing binary Algol type (EA/SD)
S Her	Hercules		6^m.4	13^m.8	7.4	307 d	Mira variable (M)
U Her	Hercules		6^m.4	13^m.4	7.0	406 d	Mira variable (M)
X Her	Hercules		7^m.5 (p)	8^m.6 (p)	1.1	95.0 d	Semiregular (SRB)
R Hor	Horologium		4^m.7	14^m.3	9.6	408 d	Mira variable (M)
U Hor	Horologium		7^m.8 (p)	15^m.1 (p)	6.3	348 d	Mira variable (M)
R Hya	Hydra	Maraldi, 1704	3^m.5	10^m.9	7.4	389 d	Mira variable (M)
S Hya	Hydra	Hind, 1848	7^m.2	13^m.3	6.1	257 d	Mira variable (M)
U Hya	Hydra		7^m.0 (B)	9^m.4 (B)	2.4	~450 d	Semiregular (SRB)
VW Hya	Hydra		10^m.5	14^m.1	3.6	2.69642 d	Eclipsing binary Algol type (EA/SD)
BL Lac	Lacerta		12^m.4 (B)	17^m.2 (B)	4.8		BLLAC prototype	originally thought to be a variable star, but later discovered to be a blazar
R Leo	Leo	J.A. Koch, 1782	4^m.4	11^m.3	6.9	310 d	Mira variable (M)
R Lep	Lepus		5^m.5	11^m.7	6.2	427 d	Mira variable (M)	Hind's Crimson Star
RX Lep	Lepus		5^m.0	7^m.4	2.4	~60 d	Semiregular (SRB)
R LMi	Leo Minor		6^m.3	13^m.2	6.9	372 d	Mira variable (M)
RU Lup	Lupus		9^m.6 (p)	13^m.4 (p)	3.8		Orion variable (INT)
β Lyr (Sheliak)	Lyra	John Goodricke, 1784	3^m.25	4^m.36	1.11	12.91383 d	Eclipsing binary Beta Lyrae type (prototype)
R Lyr	Lyra		3^m.88	5^m.0	1.12	~46 d	Semiregular (SRB)
RR Lyr	Lyra		7^m.06	8^m.12	1.06	0.566868 d	RR Lyrae variable (prototype)
U Mic	Microscopium		7^m.0	14^m.4	7.7	334 d	Mira variable (M)
U Mon	Monoceros		6^m.1 (p)	8^m.8 (p)	2.7	91.3 d	RV Tauri variable (RVB)
V Mon	Monoceros		6^m.0	13^m.9	7.9	341 d	Mira variable (M)
R Nor	Norma		6^m.5 (p)	13^m.9 (p)	7.4	508 d	Mira variable (M)
T Nor	Norma		6^m.2	13^m.6	7.4	241 d	Mira variable (M)
R Oct	Octans		6^m.4	13^m.2	6.8	405 d	Mira variable (M)
S Oct	Octans		7^m.2	14^m.0	6.8	259 d	Mira variable (M)
V Oph	Ophiuchus		7^m.3	11^m.6	4.3	297 d	Mira variable (M)
X Oph	Ophiuchus		5^m.9	9^m.2	3.3	329 d	Mira variable (M)
RS Oph	Ophiuchus		4^m.3	12^m.5	8.2		recurrent nova (NR)
BF Oph	Ophiuchus		6^m.93	7^m.71	0.78	4.06775 d	Classical Cepheid (DCEP)
α Ori (Betelgeuse)	Orion	John Herschel, 1840	0^m.0	1^m.3	1.3	6.39 years	Semiregular (SRC)
δ Ori (Mintaka)	Orion	John Herschel, 1834	2^m.14	2^m.26	0.12	5.73248 d	Eclipsing binary Algol type (EA/DM)
R Ori	Orion	Hind, 1848	9^m.05	13^m.4	4.35	377 d	Mira variable (M)
U Ori	Orion		4^m.8	13^m.0	8.5	368 d	Mira variable (M)
W Ori	Orion		8^m.2 (p)	12^m.4 (p)	4.2	212 d	Semiregular (SRB)
VV Ori	Orion		5^m.31	5^m.66	0.35	1.48538 d	Eclipsing binary Algol type (EA/KE:)
CK Ori	Orion		5^m.9	7^m.1	1.2	~120 d	Semiregular (SR:)
κ Pav	Pavo		3^m.91	4^m.78	0.87	9.09423 d	Type II Cepheid (CW)
S Pav	Pavo		6^m.6	10^m.4	3.8	381 d	Semiregular (SRA)
β Peg (Scheat)	Pegasus	Schmidt, 1847	2^m.31	2^m.74	0.43		LB
ε Peg (Enif)	Pegasus		0^m.7	3^m.5	2.8		LC
R Peg	Pegasus	Hind, 1848	6^m.9	13^m.8	6.9	378 d	Mira variable (M)
X Peg	Pegasus		8^m.8	14^m.4	5.8	201 d	Mira variable (M)
β Per (Algol)	Perseus	Geminiano Montanari, 1669	2^m.12	3^m.39	1.27	2.86730 d	Eclipsing binary Algol type (EA/SD) (prototype)	The Demon Star
DY Persei	Perseus						R Coronae Borealis / DY Persei / (prototype)
φ Per	Perseus		3^m.96	4^m.11	0.15	19.5 d	Gamma Cassiopeiae (GCAS)
ρ Per	Perseus		3^m.30	4^m.0	0.70	~50 d	Semiregular (SRB)
X Per	Perseus		6^m.03	7^m.0	0.97		Gamma Cassiopeiae (GCAS+XP)
ζ Phe (Wurren)	Phoenix		3^m.91	4^m.42	0.51	1.66977 d	Eclipsing binary Algol type (EA/DM)
R Pic	Pictor		6^m.35	10^m.1	3.75	171 d	Semiregular (SR)
R Psc	Pisces	Hind, 1850	7^m.0	14^m.8	7.8	345 d	Mira variable (M)
TX Psc	Pisces		4^m.79	5^m.20	0.42		LB
L² Pup	Puppis		2^m.6	6^m.2	3.6	141 d	Semiregular (SRB)
RS Pup	Puppis		6^m.52	7^m.67	1.15	41.3876 d	Classical Cepheid (DCEP)
T Pyx	Pyxis		7^m.0 (B)	15^m.77 (B)	8.77	(20 years)	recurrent nova (NR)
S Scl	Sculptor		5^m.5	13^m.6	8.1	363 d	Mira variable (M)
RR Sco	Scorpius		5^m.0	12^m.4	7.4	281 d	Mira variable (M)
RS Sco	Scorpius		6^m.2	13^m.0	6.8	320 d	Mira variable (M)
RT Sco	Scorpius		7^m.0	15^m.2	8.2	449 d	Mira variable (M)
R Sct	Scutum	Pigott, 1795	4^m.2	8^m.6	4.4	146.5 d	RV Tauri variable (RVA)
R Ser	Serpens	Harding, 1826	5^m.16	14^m.4	9.24	356 d	Mira variable (M)
S Ser	Serpens	Harding, 1828	7^m.0	14^m.1	7.1	372 d	Mira variable (M)
U Sge	Sagitta		6^m.45	9^m.28	2.83	3.38062 d	Eclipsing binary Algol type (EA/SD)
WZ Sge	Sagitta		7^m.0 (B)	15^m.53 (B)	8.53	(33 years)	dwarf nova (UGSU+E+ZZ)
RR Sgr	Sagittarius		5^m.4	14^m.0	8.6	336 d	Mira variable (M)
R Sgr	Sagittarius		6^m.7	12^m.83	6.13	270 d	Mira variable (M)
U Sgr	Sagittarius(inM25)		6^m.28	7^m.15	0.87	6.74523 d	Classical Cepheid (DCEP)
RT Sgr	Sagittarius		6^m.0	14^m.1	8.1	306 d	Mira variable (M)
RU Sgr	Sagittarius		6^m.0	13^m.8	7.8	240 d	Mira variable (M)
RY Sgr	Sagittarius		5^m.8	14^m.0	8.2		R Coronae Borealis (RCB)
VX Sgr	Sagittarius		6^m.52	14^m.0	7.08	732 d	Semiregular (SRC)
λ Tau	Taurus	Baxendell, 1848	3^m.37	3^m.91	0.54	3.95295 d	Eclipsing binary Algol type (EA/DM)
R Tau	Taurus	Hind, 1849	7^m.6	15^m.8	8.2	321 d	Mira variable (M)
T Tau	Taurus		9^m.3	13^m.5	4.2		Orion variable (INT)
SU Tau	Taurus		9^m.1	16^m.86	7.76		R Coronae Borealis (RCB)
R Tri	Triangulum		5^m.4	12^m.6	7.2	267 d	Mira variable (M)
R UMa	Ursa Major		6^m.5	13^m.7	7.2	302 d	Mira variable (M)
T UMa	Ursa Major		6^m.6	13^m.5	6.9	257 d	Mira variable (M)
U UMa	Ursa Major		6^m.20	6^m.25	0.05		-
W UMa	Ursa Major		7^m.75	8^m.48	0.73	0.3336 d	Eclipsing binary W Ursae Majoris type (prototype)
Z UMa	Ursa Major		6^m.2	9^m.4	3.2	196 d	Semiregular (SRB)
α UMi (Polaris)	Ursa Minor		1^m.86	2^m.13	0.27	3.9696 d	Classical Cepheid (DCEPS)
R Vir	Virgo	Harding, 1809	6^m.1	12^m.1	6.0	146 d	Mira variable (M)
S Vir	Virgo		6^m.3	13^m.2	6.9	375 d	Mira variable (M)

Notes

[edit]

^ Samus', N. N.; Kazarovets, E. V.; Durlevich, O. V.; Kireeva, N. N.; Pastukhova, E. N. (2017). "General catalogue of variable stars: Version GCVS 5.1". Astronomy Reports. 61 (1): 80. Bibcode:2017ARep...61...80S. doi:10.1134/S1063772917010085.

^ (visual magnitude, unless marked (B) (= blue) or (p) (= photographic))

References

[edit]

David H. Levy, Observing variable stars : a guide for the beginner
General Catalogue of Variable Stars