Abstract
Certain stars change in brightness over time and are appropriately called variable stars. Unlike many other fields of astronomical enquiry, amateurs can still make valuable contributions to the study of these fascinating suns. The observer estimates the brightness of the variable by comparing it with nearby stars of known magnitude. The observations are then plotted on a graph to create what is known as a light curve, illustrating how the stars’ brightness varies with time. Such data can reveal a great deal about the nature of the star under study.
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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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English, N. (2014). Variable Stars, Comets and Meteors. In: Grab 'n' Go Astronomy. The Patrick Moore Practical Astronomy Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0826-4_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0826-4_14
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Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-0826-4
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