(Hubble Space Telescope)
A Cepheid variable (/ˈsɛfi.ɪd, ˈsiːfi-/) is a type of variable star that pulsates radially, varying in both diameter and temperature. It changes in brightness, with a well-defined stable period and amplitude. Cepheids are important cosmic benchmarks for scaling galactic and extragalactic distances; a strong direct relationship exists between a Cepheid variable's luminosity and its pulsation period.
This characteristic of classical Cepheids was discovered in 1908 by Henrietta Swan Leavitt after studying thousands of variable stars in the Magellanic Clouds. The discovery establishes the true luminosity of a Cepheid by observing its pulsation period. This in turn gives the distance to the star by comparing its known luminosity to its observed brightness, calibrated by directly observing the parallax distance to the closest Cepheids such as RS Puppis and Polaris.
Cepheids change brightness due to the κ–mechanism,[1][2] which occurs when opacity in a star increases with temperature rather than decreasing.[3] The main gas involved is thought to be helium. The cycle is driven by the fact doubly ionized helium, the form adopted at high temperatures, is more opaque than singly ionized helium. As a result, the outer layer of the star cycles between being compressed, which heats the helium until it becomes doubly ionized and (due to opacity) absorbs enough heat to expand; and expanded, which cools the helium until it becomes singly ionized and (due to transparency) cools and collapses again. Cepheid variables become dimmest during the part of the cycle when the helium is doubly ionized.
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:1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Maeder, André (2009). Physics, formation and evolution of rotating stars. Astronomy and astrophysics library. Springer. p. 373. ISBN 978-3-540-76948-4.