Variable Stars

Variable Star R Leonis

Variable Star R Leonis

: By Glenn Chaple
On the evening of March 1, 1918, a young Ohio farm boy trained a small refracting telescope towards the variable star R Leonis. He estimated its brightness, later forwarding the information to the American Association of Variable Star Observers. It was the first of over 132.000 variable star observations the legendary Leslie Peltier would submit to the AAVSO.

Observe Delta Cephei

: By Gerry Dyck
Gerry Dyck introduces us to variable star observing with the naked eye star Delta Cephei.
Delta (δ) and Mu (μ) Cephei

Delta (δ) and Mu (μ) Cephei

: By Glenn Chaple
In the southern part of Cepheus is a pair of naked eye variable stars worthy of note. The first, delta (?), is the prototypical Cepheid variable. It ranges between magnitudes 3.5 and 4.4 in a precise 5.37 day period. The rise from minimum to maximum brightness takes about 1½ days; the fade back to minimum involves an additional four.

Omicron Ceti (Mira, the “Wonderful”)

: By Glenn Chaple
Last month, we looked at the prototypical eclipsing binary beta Persei (Algol). This month, we turn to another prototype, the classic long-period variable (LPV) omicron Ceti.

Beta Persei (Algol, the "Demon Star")

: By Glenn Chaple
Are you ready for the eclipse of November 13th? I’m not talking about the sun or moon. I’m referring instead to an eclipse of the fascinating star ß Persei (Algol).

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