RR Lyr Comparison Table

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physical object > natural object > celestial body > star > metal-poor star > horizontal branch star > RR Lyrae star > RR Lyr

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RR Lyr comparison table

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RR Lyrae star horizontal branch star A large class of pulsating (amplitude variation about 1 mag) blue giants of anomalous spectral type (A2-F6) with periods of less than 1 day. Their average absolute magnitude is about +0.8. which makes them almost 50 times more luminous than the Sun. They are Population II objects often (but not always) present in globular clusters. RR Lyrae stars are valid distance indicators out to more than 200 kpc.

RR Lyr RR Lyrae star An old metal-poor white or yellow-white giant star that pulsates like a Cepheid and therefore varies in brightness. Most RR Lyrae stars have periods of under one day, which is shorter than periods for Cepheids. RR Lyrae stars are also fainter than Cepheids, with absolute magnitudes around +0.7, corresponding to a luminosity about 45 times the Sun's. RR Lyrae stars are excellent distance indicators because they all have nearly the same intrinsic brightness. They take their name from the star RR Lyrae, in the constellation Lyra.

Subject	is an instance of	is a kind of	has definition
RR Lyrae star		horizontal branch star	A large class of pulsating (amplitude variation about 1 mag) blue giants of anomalous spectral type (A2-F6) with periods of less than 1 day. Their average absolute magnitude is about +0.8. which makes them almost 50 times more luminous than the Sun. They are Population II objects often (but not always) present in globular clusters. RR Lyrae stars are valid distance indicators out to more than 200 kpc.
RR Lyr	RR Lyrae star		An old metal-poor white or yellow-white giant star that pulsates like a Cepheid and therefore varies in brightness. Most RR Lyrae stars have periods of under one day, which is shorter than periods for Cepheids. RR Lyrae stars are also fainter than Cepheids, with absolute magnitudes around +0.7, corresponding to a luminosity about 45 times the Sun's. RR Lyrae stars are excellent distance indicators because they all have nearly the same intrinsic brightness. They take their name from the star RR Lyrae, in the constellation Lyra.

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