Exploring Starlight Part 3 - Variable Stars
Channel: Astronomy with Mr Guerin
Date: 2022-08-19

Why do stars vary in brightness? Why are Cepheids so important? How can we use astronomical catalogues, and can we figure out the length of a day just from a photo of the night sky?

This video will tell you everything you need to answer these questions in EdExcel's Astronomy GCSE.

Download the slideshow:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1v7n69srfzFmgYxF9Vct6FKp3r_ZRqFjx


Image credits:

Kepler's supernova, NASA, nasa.gov, public domain
https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_219.html

The Sun at 304Å, NASA/SDO (AIA), nasa.gov, public domain
https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/browse/2010/08/19/20100819_003221_4096_0304.jpg

Animation of Cepheid variable star, Merikanto, wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cepheid_animation_1.gif

Henrietta Swan Leavitt, unknown photographer, weber.edu, public domain
https://physics.weber.edu/carroll/honors-time/Cepheids.htm

S Orionis, ESO, eso.org, CC BY 4.0
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0725a/

Eclipsing binary, ESO/L. Calçada, eso.org, CC BY 4.0
https://www.eso.org/public/videos/eso1311b/

Making a Nova, NASA/CXC/M.Weiss, nasa.gov, public domain
https://www.nasa.gov/images/content/62486main_Making_a_Nova.jpg

GK Persei, NASA/CXC/RIKEN/D. Takei et al, nasa.gov, public domain
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/about/star/star150325.html

Type 1a supernova, NASA, ESA and A. Feild (STScI); vectorisation by chris 論, wikimedia, CC BY 3.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Progenitor_IA_supernova.svg

The rise and fall of a Supernova, ESO/IRAP-CNRS-UPS/A.Klotz, eso.org, CC BY 4.0
https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1323a/

Centauri star system, Skatebiker, wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alpha,_Beta_and_Proxima_Centauri_(1).jpg

Pleiades, NASA, ESA, AURA/Caltech, Palomar Observatory, public domain
https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2004/news-2004-20.html

Caldwell 42, ESA/Hubble & NASA, esahubble.org, CC BY 4.0
https://esahubble.org/images/potw1137a/

Messier objects, Michael A. Phillips, wikimedia, CC BY 4.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:All_messier_objects_(numbered).jpg

NGC planetary nebulae, NASA, harvard.edu, public domain
https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2012/pne/

Star trail photograph, Harveychl, wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_star_trails_observed_in_Eleebana,_NSW,_Australia_on_Mar_03,_2019.jpeg