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Examples of variable star in a Sentence
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Stars that change in brightness, known as variable stars, get brighter and dimmer; supernovas burst into view and then gradually fade away; and thousands of objects too faint to see with the unaided eye, like asteroids, move steadily across the sky.
—Dan Falk, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 June 2024
Using these variable stars, scientists can measure the distances to galaxies up to about 100 million light-years from us.
—Quanta Magazine, 19 Jan. 2024
Henrietta Swan Leavitt developed a key method for measuring astronomical distances that is based on the pulsations of Cepheid variable stars.
—WIRED, 12 Nov. 2023
Photograph: Alamy Hubble in turn wrote up his variable star measurements and convinced everyone that Andromeda was indeed a separate galaxy.
—WIRED, 12 Nov. 2023
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Word History
First Known Use
1788, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near variable star
Cite this Entry
“Variable star.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/variable%20star. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Kids Definition
variable star
noun
: a star whose brightness changes usually in more or less regular periods
More from Merriam-Webster on variable star
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for variable star
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about variable star
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