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Mira Ceti (Omicron Ceti)
Mira Ceti (Omicron Ceti)
Credit: Giuseppe Donatiello
Mira Ceti, first variable star to be discovered and the prototype of a class known as long-period variables, or Mira stars. There is some evidence that ancient Babylonian astronomers noticed its variable character. In a systematic study in 1638, a Dutch astronomer, Phocylides Holwarda, found that the star disappeared and reappeared in a varying cycle of about 330 days. It thus acquired the name Mira.
Its brightness varies about magnitude 3 at maximum light and magnitude 9 at minimum. Mira is a binary; the red giant primary has a faint bluish white companion. Mira is about 350 light-years from Earth.
Mira Ceti (Omicron Ceti)
Mira Ceti (Omicron Ceti)
Credit: Giuseppe Donatiello
Mira Ceti, first variable star to be discovered and the prototype of a class known as long-period variables, or Mira stars. There is some evidence that ancient Babylonian astronomers noticed its variable character. In a systematic study in 1638, a Dutch astronomer, Phocylides Holwarda, found that the star disappeared and reappeared in a varying cycle of about 330 days. It thus acquired the name Mira.
Its brightness varies about magnitude 3 at maximum light and magnitude 9 at minimum. Mira is a binary; the red giant primary has a faint bluish white companion. Mira is about 350 light-years from Earth.