as in neutron star
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Recent Examples of variable star
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
See All Example Sentences for variable star
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
See All Example Sentences for variable star
Recent Examples of Synonyms for variable star
Noun
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That year observations of a merging neutron star revealed that gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves arrived at Earth within three seconds of each other—after traversing a distance of 130 million light-years.—
Paul M. Sutter,
Scientific American,
26 Feb. 2025
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As the star's core rapidly crushes down to form a neutron star, the outer layers and most of the star's mass are blown away in a core-collapse supernova.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
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One day this boy wants to be a red star inside those red walls.—
Michael Walker,
The Athletic,
15 Mar. 2025
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The Hubble image captures the nebula's diverse stellar population, which includes hot, young blue stars and older red stars, scattered among intricately woven, airy tendrils of gas and dark clumps of dust.—
Samantha Mathewson,
Space.com,
20 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Astronomers have theorized that supernovas such as these are caused by two white dwarfs orbiting each other in a binary star system, when one of them consumes the other.—
Margherita Bassi,
Smithsonian Magazine,
9 Apr. 2025
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The binary star system discovered in the new study is the heaviest of its kind that's ever been confirmed, with a combined mass that's 1.56 times that of the sun.—
John W. Dean,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Pollux is a single giant star, more than 10 times the diameter of our sun, and shining a little more than 34 light-years away, with one light-year equaling almost 6 trillion miles.—
Mike Lynch,
Twin Cities,
6 Apr. 2025
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And then, critically, the giant star’s core runs out of helium fuel.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The model developed by the team found that white dwarfs can fuel both processes simultaneously, making Earth-like planets possible around white dwarfs.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
19 Mar. 2025
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The material sits on the surface of the white dwarf until there is enough material to ignite a thermonuclear runaway explosion -- a buildup of pressure and heat.—
Julia Jacobo,
ABC News,
31 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Importantly, the two groups, only a few weeks apart in age, were not expected to differ significantly from one another, which would reduce the probability of confounding variables.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
5 Apr. 2025
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The start and end of that season changes based on a wide set of variables, but the presence of Velella velellas indicates a shift in winds and currents, Stock said.—
Adrian Rodriguez,
Mercury News,
4 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Variable star.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/variable%20star. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.
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