star Classificationastronomy

Variables are often classified as behaving like a prototype star, and the entire class is then named for this star—e.g., RR Lyrae stars are those whose variability follows the pattern of the star RR Lyrae. The most important classes of intrinsically variable stars are the following:

(1) Pulsating variables—stars whose variations in light and colour are thought to arise primarily from stellar pulsations. These include Beta Canis Majoris stars, RR Lyrae stars, and Delta Scuti stars, all with short regular periods of less than a day; Cepheids, with periods between 1 and 100 days; and long-period variables, semiregular variables, and irregular red variables, usually with unstable periods of hundreds of days.

(2) Explosive, or catastrophic, variables—stars in which the variations are produced by the wrenching away of part of the star, usually the outer layers, in some explosive process. They include SS Cygni or U Geminorum stars, novas, and supernovas (the last of which are usually regarded as representing an enormous explosion involving most of the matter in a star [see below Later stages of evolution]).

(3) Miscellaneous and special types of variables—R Coronae Borealis stars, T Tauri stars, flare stars, pulsars (neutron stars), spectrum and magnetic variables, X-ray variable stars, and radio variable stars.