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This type is used to classify celestial objects by various categories, such as star, planet, galaxy, nebula, etc.
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90 Celestial object category topics matching:
Filter this Collection| x name | x image | x Objects | x Subcategory of | x Subcategories | x article |
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| x Planet |
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Uranus |
A planet (from Ancient Greek αστήρ πλανήτης (astēr planētēs), meaning "wandering star") is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear...
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| Venus | |||||
| Mercury | |||||
| Jupiter | |||||
| Saturn | |||||
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| x Asteroid |
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Ceres | Small solar system body |
Asteroids (from Greek ἀστεροειδής - asteroeidēs, "star-like", from ἀστήρ "star" and εἶδος "like, in form") are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones. These...
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| 118401 LINEAR | Minor planet | ||||
| 107P/Wilson-Harrington | |||||
| 133P/Elst-Pizarro | |||||
| 60558 Echeclus | |||||
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| x Comet | Comet Arend-Roland | Small solar system body |
A comet is an icy small Solar System body (SSSB) that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma (a thin, fuzzy, temporary atmosphere) and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the...
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| C/2007 N3 | |||||
| Comet Zhu-Balam | |||||
| Comet Machholz | |||||
| Comet Kohoutek | |||||
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| x Dwarf planet |
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Ceres | Minor planet | Plutoid |
A dwarf planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), is a celestial body in direct orbit of the Sun that is massive enough that its shape is controlled by gravitational rather than mechanical forces (and thus an ellipsoid in...
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| Pluto | |||||
| Eris | |||||
| Haumea | |||||
| x Nebula |
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NGC 6751 |
A nebula (from Latin: "cloud"; pl. nebulae or nebulæ, with ligature or nebulas) is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium and other ionized gases. Originally, nebula was a general name for any extended astronomical object, including...
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| Crab Nebula | |||||
| Ring Nebula | |||||
| Orion Nebula | |||||
| Helix Nebula | |||||
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| x Galaxy |
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NGC 6340 | Interacting galaxy |
A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from...
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| NGC 1097 | Satellite galaxy | ||||
| Antlia Dwarf | Dwarf galaxy | ||||
| NGC 5752 | |||||
| NGC 5754 | |||||
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| x Black hole |
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A black hole is a region of spacetime whose gravitational field is so strong that nothing which enters it, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black...
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| x Meteoroid |
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A meteoroid is a sand- to boulder-sized particle of debris in the Solar System. The visible path of a meteoroid that enters Earth's (or another body's) atmosphere is called a meteor, or colloquially a shooting star or falling star. If a meteoroid...
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| x Trans-Neptunian object |
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Pluto | Minor planet | Plutoid |
A trans-Neptunian object (TNO; also written transneptunian object) is any minor planet in the Solar System that orbits the Sun at a greater average distance (semi-major axis) than Neptune.
The first trans-Neptunian object to be discovered was Pluto...
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| Eris | Detached object | ||||
| 2002 VR128 | Kuiper belt object | ||||
| 2007 OR10 | Scattered disc object | ||||
| 65489 Ceto | Resonant trans-Neptunian object | ||||
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| x Detached object | Trans-Neptunian object |
Detached objects are a dynamical class of bodies in the outer Solar System beyond the orbit of Neptune. These objects have orbits whose points of closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) are sufficiently distant from the gravitational influence of...
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| x Cubewano | (16684) 1994 JQ1 | Kuiper belt object |
A classical Kuiper belt object, also called a cubewano ( /ˌkjuːbiːˈwʌnoʊ/ "QB1-o") is a low-eccentricity Kuiper belt object (KBO) that orbits beyond Neptune and is not controlled by an orbital resonance with Neptune. Cubewanos have orbits with semi...
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| 1992 QB1 | |||||
| 1994 GV9 | |||||
| 58534 Logos | |||||
| x Globular cluster |
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47 Tucanae |
A globular cluster is a spherical collection of stars that orbits a galactic core as a satellite. Globular clusters are very tightly bound by gravity, which gives them their spherical shapes and relatively high stellar densities toward their centers...
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| NGC 1261 | |||||
| NGC 1851 | |||||
| Omega Centauri | |||||
| Mayall II | |||||
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| x Supernova |
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S Andromedae |
A supernova (abbreviated SN, plural SNe after supernovae) is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced /ˌsuːpərˈnoʊvə/ with the plural supernovae /ˌsuːpərˈnoʊviː/ or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and...
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| SN 1986G | |||||
| SN 2011by | |||||
| SN 2010lt | |||||
| SN 1961V | |||||
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| x Star |
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SN 1986G | Giant star |
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth....
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| SEE 469 | White dwarf | ||||
| Beta Ursae Majoris | Blue-white dwarf | ||||
| Polaris | Brown dwarf | ||||
| GJ 388 | Red dwarf | ||||
| more ▼ | more ▼ | ||||
| x Plutoid |
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Makemake | Trans-Neptunian object |
A plutoid, or ice dwarf, is a trans-Neptunian dwarf planet: that is, a body orbiting beyond Neptune that is large enough to be rounded in shape. The term was adopted by part of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), but has been rejected by...
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| Haumea | Dwarf planet | ||||
| Eris | |||||
| Pluto | |||||
| x Kuiper belt object | 20000 Varuna | Trans-Neptunian object | Cubewano | ||
| 19521 Chaos | Minor planet | ||||
| Pluto | |||||
| 28978 Ixion | |||||
| (144897) 2004 UX10 | |||||
| x Scattered disc object | (181902) 1999 RD215 | Trans-Neptunian object | |||
| (184212) 2004 PB112 | |||||
| x Resonant trans-Neptunian object | Trans-Neptunian object | Plutino |
In astronomy, a resonant trans-Neptunian object is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) in mean motion orbital resonance with Neptune. The orbital periods of the resonant objects are in a simple integer relations with the period of Neptune e.g. 1:2, 2:3...
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| x Plutino | 2002 VR128 | Resonant trans-Neptunian object |
In astronomy, a plutino is a trans-Neptunian object in 2:3 mean motion resonance with Neptune. For every 2 orbits that a plutino makes, Neptune orbits 3 times. Plutinos are named after Pluto, which follows an orbit trapped in the same resonance,...
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| x Cis-Neptunian object | Centaur |
A cis-Neptunian object is, literally, any astronomical body found within the orbit of Neptune. However, the term is typically used for those distant minor planets other than trans-Neptunian objects: that is, all sub-planetary bodies orbiting the Sun...
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| x Centaur |
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2060 Chiron | Cis-Neptunian object |
Centaurs are an unstable orbital class of minor planets that behave with characteristics of both asteroids and comets. They are named after the mythological race of beings, centaurs, which were a mixture of horse and human. Centaurs have transient...
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| 60558 Echeclus | Minor planet | ||||
| x Natural satellite |
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Cressida | Minor planet moon |
A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary.
Formally classified moons include 173 planetary satellites orbiting six of the eight planets, and seven orbiting three of the five IAU...
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| Petit-Prince | |||||
| Rosalind | |||||
| P4 | |||||
| Ganymede | |||||
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| x Open cluster |
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Messier 25 |
An open cluster is a group of up to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way Galaxy, and many more are thought to...
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| NGC 7380 | |||||
| NGC 884 | |||||
| NGC 381 | |||||
| x Giant star | Star | Red giant |
A giant star is a star with substantially larger radius and luminosity than a main-sequence star of the same surface temperature. Typically, giant stars have radii between 10 and 100 solar radii and luminosities between 10 and 1,000 times that of...
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| x Red giant |
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Giant star |
A red giant is a luminous giant star of low or intermediate mass (roughly 0.5–10 solar masses) in a late phase of stellar evolution. The outer atmosphere is inflated and tenuous, making the radius immense and the surface temperature low, somewhere...
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| x White dwarf |
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Star |
A white dwarf, also called a degenerate dwarf, is a small star composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. They are very dense; a white dwarf's mass is comparable to that of the Sun and its volume is comparable to that of the Earth. Its faint...
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| x Blue-white dwarf |
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Star |
A B-type main-sequence star (B V) is a main-sequence (hydrogen-burning) star of spectral type B and luminosity class V. These stars have from 2 to 16 times the mass of the Sun and surface temperatures between 10,000 and 30,000 K. B-type stars are...
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| x Brown dwarf |
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Star |
Brown dwarfs are sub-stellar objects which are too low in mass to sustain hydrogen-1 fusion reactions in their cores, which is characteristic of stars on the main sequence. Brown dwarfs have fully convective surfaces and interiors, with no chemical...
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| x Small solar system body |
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2 Pallas | Asteroid |
A small Solar System body (SSSB) is an object in the Solar System that is neither a planet nor a dwarf planet, nor a satellite of a planet or dwarf planet:
This encompasses all comets and all minor planets other than those classified as dwarf...
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| 3 Juno | Comet | ||||
| 4 Vesta | |||||
| 5 Astraea | |||||
| 6 Hebe | |||||
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| x Interstellar cloud |
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High Velocity Cloud |
Interstellar cloud is the generic name given to an accumulation of gas, plasma and dust in our and other galaxies. Put differently, an interstellar cloud is a denser-than-average region of the interstellar medium. Depending on the density, size and...
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| x High Velocity Cloud | HVC 127-41-330 | Interstellar cloud | |||
| x Galaxy filament |
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Pisces-Cetus Supercluster Complex | Universe | Galaxy wall |
In physical cosmology, galaxy filaments, also called supercluster complexes or great walls, are, so far, the largest known cosmic structures in the universe. They are massive, thread-like structures with a typical length of 50 to 80 megaparsecs h...
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| x Universe |
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Universe | Galaxy filament |
The universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the...
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| x Galaxy wall | Sloan Great Wall | Galaxy filament |
The Galaxy wall subtype of Galactic filaments have a significantly greater major axis than minor axis in cross-section, along the lengthwise axis.
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| Great Wall | |||||
| x Void |
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Local Bubble |
In astronomy, voids are the empty spaces between filaments (the largest-scale structures in the Universe), which contain very few, or no, galaxies. They were first discovered in 1978 during a pioneering study by Stephen Gregory and Laird A. Thompson...
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| x Near-Earth asteroid |
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(7744) 1986 QA1 | Amor asteroid |
Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) are asteroids whose orbits are close to Earth's orbit. All near-Earth asteroids spend part of their orbits between 0.983 and 1.3 astronomical units away from the Sun. Some near-Earth asteroids' orbits intersect Earth's so...
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| 7889 1994 LX | Aten asteroid | ||||
| (8035) 1992 TB | Apollo asteroid | ||||
| (8176) 1991 WA | |||||
| (8201) 1994 AH2 | |||||
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| x Amor asteroid | Near-Earth asteroid |
The Amor asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after the asteroid 1221 Amor. They approach the orbit of the Earth from beyond, but do not cross it. Most Amors do cross the orbit of Mars. The two moons of Mars, Deimos and Phobos, may be...
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| x Aten asteroid | Near-Earth asteroid |
The Aten asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids, named after the first of the group to be discovered (2062 Aten, discovered January 7, 1976, by Eleanor F. Helin). They are defined by having semi-major axes of less than one astronomical unit ...
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| x Apollo asteroid |
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Near-Earth asteroid |
The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth. They are Earth-crosser asteroids that have orbital semi-major axes greater than that of the...
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| x Asteroid Group |
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Asteroid belt |
An asteroid group or minor-planet group is a population of minor planets that have a share broadly similar orbits. Members are generally unrelated to each other, unlike in an asteroid family, which often results from the break-up of a single...
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| Trojan asteroid | |||||
| Mars Trojan asteroid | |||||
| x Symbiotic variable star |
A symbiotic variable star is a variable binary star system in which one star has expanded its outer envelope and is shedding mass quickly, and another hot star (often a white dwarf) is ionizing the gas .
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| x X-ray burster |
X-ray bursters are one class of X-ray binary stars exhibiting periodic and rapid increases in luminosity (typically a factor of 10 or greater) peaked in the X-ray regime of the electromagnetic spectrum. These astrophysical systems are composed of an...
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| x X-ray pulsar |
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Pulsar | Anomalous X-ray pulsar |
X-ray pulsars or accretion-powered pulsars are a class of astronomical objects that are X-ray sources displaying strict periodic variations in X-ray intensity. The X-ray periods range from as little as a fraction of a second to as much as several...
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| x Yellow-white dwarf |
An F-type main-sequence star (F V) is a main-sequence, hydrogen-fusing star of spectral type F and luminosity class V. These stars have from 1.0 to 1.4 times the mass of the Sun and surface temperatures between 6,000 and 7,600 K. This temperature...
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| x White main sequence star |
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An A-type main-sequence star (A V) or A dwarf star is a main-sequence (hydrogen-burning) star of spectral type A and luminosity class V. These stars have spectra which are defined by strong hydrogen Balmer absorption lines . They have masses from 1...
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| x Orange dwarf |
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A K-type main-sequence star (K V), also referred to as an orange dwarf or K dwarf, is a main-sequence (hydrogen-burning) star of spectral type K and luminosity class V. These stars are intermediate in size between red M-type main-sequence stars and...
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| x Jupiter-crosser asteroid |
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A Jupiter-crosser is a minor planet whose orbit crosses that of Jupiter. Jupiter's Trojan asteroids are inner grazers (105), outer grazers (52), co-orbitals (183), and crossers (537)—see Jupiter Trojan. Discounting them, there are no known outer...
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| x DY Persei | R Coronae Borealis variable |
DY Persei variables are a subclass of R Coronae Borealis variables. They are carbon-rich asymptotic giant branch stars that exhibit pulsational variability of AGB stars and irregular variability of RCB stars.
The star DY Persei is the prototype of...
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| x R Coronae Borealis variable |
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R Coronae Borealis | Eruptive variable | DY Persei |
A R Coronae Borealis variable (abbreviated RCB) is an eruptive variable star that varies in luminosity in two modes, one low amplitude pulsation (a few tenths of a magnitude), and one irregular unpredictably sudden fading by 1 to 9 magnitudes. The...
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| x Eruptive variable | Variable star | R Coronae Borealis variable |
An eruptive variable is a variable star characterised by sudden extreme increases in luminosity.
There are many different types of eruptive variables, with an enormous range of increases in luminosity and recurrence timescales. Examples include...
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| x Variable star |
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Eruptive variable |
A star is classified as variable if its apparent magnitude as seen from Earth changes over time, whether the changes are due to variations in the star's actual luminosity, or to variations in the amount of the star's light that is blocked from...
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| Alpha2 Canum Venaticorum variable | |||||
| RS Canum Venaticorum variable | |||||
| Delta Scuti variable | |||||
| x Algol variable | Eclipsing binaries |
Algol variables or Algol-type binaries are a class of eclipsing binary stars where the orbital plane of the stars are coincident with the line of sight from Earth. When the cooler component passes in front of the hotter one, part of the latter's...
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| x Eclipsing binaries | Algol variable |
An eclipsing binary star is a binary star in which the orbit plane of the two stars lies so nearly in the line of sight of the observer that the components undergo mutual eclipses. In the case where the binary is also a spectroscopic binary and the...
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| x Gamma Cassiopeiae variable |
Gamma Cassiopeiae variables are variable stars which exhibit irregular variations in their luminosity due to the outflow of matter from the star. They are typically spectral type B main sequence or giant stars and the brightness fluctuations can be...
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| x Irregular variable |
An irregular variable is a type of variable star in which variations in brightness show no regular periodicity. There are two main sub-types of irregular variable: eruptive and pulsating.
Eruptive irregular variables are divided into three...
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| x BY Draconis variable |
BY Draconis variables are main sequence variable stars of late spectral types, usually K or M. The name comes from the archetype for this category of variable star system, BY Draconis. They exhibit variations in their luminosity due to rotation of...
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| x Alpha2 Canum Venaticorum variable | Variable star |
An Alpha Canum Venaticorum variable (or α CVn variable) is a type of variable star. These stars are chemically peculiar main sequence stars of spectral class B8p to A7p. They have strong magnetic fields and strong silicon, strontium, or chromium...
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| x RS Canum Venaticorum variable | Variable star |
RS Canum Venaticorum variables are a type of variable star. They are close binary stars having active chromospheres which can cause large stellar spots. These spots are believed to cause variations in their observed luminosity. Systems can exhibit...
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| x Delta Scuti variable | Variable star |
A Delta Scuti variable (sometimes termed dwarf cepheid) is a variable star which exhibits variations in its luminosity due to both radial and non-radial pulsations of the star's surface. Typical brightness fluctuations are from 0.003 to 0.9...
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| x Beta Cephei variable |
Beta Cephei variables are variable stars which exhibit variations in their brightness due to pulsations of the stars' surfaces. The point of maximum brightness roughly corresponds to the maximum contraction of the star. Typically, Beta Cephei...
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