List of variable stars

There are over 50,000 known variable stars, with more being discovered regularly, so a complete list of every single variable is impossible. The following is a list of 178 known variable stars that are well-known, bright, significant, or otherwise interesting.

Designation (name)	Constellation	Discovery	Apparent magnitude (Maximum)*	Apparent magnitude (Minimum)*	Period	Type	Comment
R And	Andromeda		5^m.8	14^m.9	409 d	Mira (M)
S And (Supernova 1885)	Andromeda	Ernst Hartwig, August 20th, 1885	5^m.8	<16^m.	-	Supernova (SNI)
U Ant	Antlia		8^m.1	9^m.7 (p)	-	LB
θ Aps	Apus		6^m.4	8^m.6 (p)	119 d	Semiregular (SRB)
η Aql	Aquila	Pigott, 1784	3^m.48	4^m.39	7.17664 d	Cepheid (DCEP)
R Aql	Aquila		5^m.5	12^m.0	284 d	Mira (M)
V Aql	Aquila		6^m.6	8^m.4	353 d	Semiregular (SRB)
R Aqr	Aquarius	Harding, 1811	5^m.8	12^m.4	387 d	Mira (M)
T Aqr	Aquarius		7^m.2	14^m.2	202 d	Mira (M)
U Ara	Ara		7^m.7	14^m.1	225 d	Mira (M)
R Ari	Aries		7^m.4	13^m.7	187 d	Mira (M)
U Ari	Aries		7^m.2	15^m.2	371 d	Mira (M)
ε Aur	Auriga	J.H. Fritsch, 1821	2^m.92	3^m.83	27.08 years	Algol (EA/GS)
R Aur	Auriga		6^m.7	13^m.9	458 d	Mira (M)
AE Aur	Auriga		5^m.78	6^m.08	-	protostar (INA)
R Boo	Bootes		6^m.2	13^m.1	223 d	Mira (M)
W Boo	Bootes		4^m.73	5^m.4	~450 d	Semiregular (SRB:)
X Cam	Camelopardalis		7^m.4	14^m.2	144 d	Mira (M)
VZ Cam	Camelopardalis		4^m.80	4^m.96	23.7 d	Semiregular (SR)
R Cap	Capricornus	Hind, 1848	9^m.4	14^m.9	345 d	Mira (M)
η Car	Carina	Burchell, 1827	-0^m.8	7^m.9	-	S Doradus (SDOR)	"The unpredictable supergiant"
l Car	Carina		3^m.28	4^m.18	35.53584 d	Cepheid (DCEP)
R Car	Carina		3^m.9	10^m.5	309 d	Mira (M)
S Car	Carina		4^m.5	9^m.9	149 d	Mira (M)
γ Cas	Cassiopeia		1^m.6	3^m.0	-	Gamma Cassiopeiae (GCAS)
R Cas	Cassiopeia		4^m.7	13^m.5	430 d	Mira (M)
S Cas	Cassiopeia		7^m.9	16^m.1	612 d	Mira (M)
W Cas	Cassiopeia		7^m.8	12^m.5	406 d	Mira (M)
R Cen	Centaurus		5^m.3	11^m.8	546 d	Mira (M)
S Cen	Centaurus		9^m.2	10^m.7 (p)	65 d	Semiregular (SR)
T Cen	Centaurus		5^m.5	9^m.0	90.44 d	Semiregular (SRA)
V645 Cen (Proxima Centauri)	Centaurus		12^m.1	13^m.12 (B)	-	UV Ceti (UV)
δ Cep	Cepheus	John Goodricke, 1784	3^m.48	4^m.37	5.36634 d	prototype Cepheid (DCEP)	double star, visible in binoculars
μ Cep	Cepheus	William Herschel, 1782	3^m.43	5^m.1	730 d	Semiregular (SRC)
S Cep	Cepheus		7^m.4	12^m.9	487 d	Mira (M)
T Cep	Cepheus		5^m.2	11^m.3	388 d	Mira (M)
U Cep	Cepheus		6^m.75	9^m.24	2.49305 d	Algol (EA/SD)
SS Cep	Cepheus		8^m.0	9^m.1 (p)	90 d	Semiregular (SRB)
AR Cep	Cepheus		7^m.0	7^m.9	-	Semiregular (SRB)
ο Cet (Mira)	Cetus	David Fabricius, 1596; variability may have been first noted by Johannes Fokkes Holwarda, 1638	2^m.0	10^m.1	332 d	Mira (M)	"The miraculous"
T Cet	Cetus		5^m.0	6^m.9	159 d	Semiregular (SRC)
U Cet	Cetus		6^m.8	13^m.4	235 d	Mira (M)
W Cet	Cetus		7^m.1	14^m.8	351 d	Mira (M)
R Cha	Chamaeleon		7^m.5	14^m.2	335 d	Mira (M)
R CMa	Canis Major		5^m.70	6^m.34	1.13594 d	Algol (EA/SD)
VY CMa	Canis Major		6^m.5	9^m.6	-	unique (*)
FW CMa	Canis Major		5^m.00	5^m.50	-	Gamma Cassiopeiae (GCAS)
S CMi	Canis Minor		6^m.6	13^m.2	333 d	Mira (M)
R Cnc	Cancer		6^m.07	11^m.8	362 d	Mira (M)
S Cnc	Cancer	Hind, 1848	8^m.29	10^m.25	9.48455 d	Algol (EA/DS)
T Cnc	Cancer	Hind, 1850	7^m.6	10^m.5	482 d	Semiregular (SRB)
X Cnc	Cancer		5^m.6	7^m.5	~195 d	Semiregular (SRB)
T Col	Columba		6^m.6	12^m.7	226 d	Mira (M)
R Com	Coma Berenices		7^m.1	14^m.6	363 d	Mira (M)
α CrB (Alphecca or Gemma)	Corona Borealis		2^m.21	2^m.32 (B)	17.35991 d	Algol (EA/DM)
R CrB	Corona Borealis	Pigott, 1795	5^m.71	14^m.8	-	R Coronae Borealis (RCB)
S CrB	Corona Borealis		5^m.8	14^m.1	360 d	Mira (M)
T CrB	Corona Borealis		2^m.0	10^m.8	(80 years)	recurrent nova (NR)
U CrB	Corona Borealis		7^m.66	8^m.79	3.45220 d	Algol (EA/SD)
V CrB	Corona Borealis		6^m.9	12^m.6	358 d	Mira (M)
W CrB	Corona Borealis		7^m.8	14^m.3	238 d	Mira (M)
R Cru	Crux		6^m.40	7^m.23	5.82575 d	Cepheid (DCEP)
R Crv	Corvus		6^m.7	14^m.4	317 d	Mira (M)
χ Cyg	Cygnus	Kirch, 1686	3^m.3	14^m.2	408 d	Mira (M)
R Cyg	Cygnus		6^m.1	14^m.4	426 d	Mira (M)
U Cyg	Cygnus		5^m.9	12^m.1	463 d	Mira (M)
W Cyg	Cygnus		6^m.80	8^m.9 (B)	131 d	Semiregular (SRB)
X Cyg	Cygnus		5^m.85	6^m.91	16.38633 d	Cepheid (DCEP)
RT Cyg	Cygnus		6^m.0	13^m.1	190 d	Mira (M)
SS Cyg	Cygnus		7^m.7	12^m.4	(49.5 d)	UGSS protoype
SU Cyg	Cygnus		6^m.44	7^m.22	3.84555 d	Cepheid (DCEP)
CH Cyg	Cygnus		5^m.60	8^m.49	-	Z Andromedae (ZAND+SR)
R Del	Delphinus		7^m.6	13^m.8	285 d	Mira (M)
U Del	Delphinus		7^m.6	8^m.9 (p)	~110 d	Semiregular (SRB)
EU Del	Delphinus		5^m.79	6^m.9	59.7 d	Semiregular (SRB)
β Dor	Dorado		3^m.46	4^m.08	9.8426 d	Cepheid (DCEP)
S Dor	Dorado		8^m.6	11^m.5 (B)	-	SDOR prototype	in the Large Magellanic Cloud
R Dra	Draco		6^m.7	13^m.2	246 d	Mira (M)
T Eri	Eridanus		7^m.2	13^m.2	252 d	Mira (M)
R For	Fornax		7^m.5	13^m.0	389 d	Mira (M)
η Gem	Gemini		3^m.15	3^m.9	233 d	Semiregular (SRA+EA)
ζ Gem	Gemini		3^m.62	4^m.18	10.15073 d	Cepheid (DCEP)
R Gem	Gemini	Hind, 1848	6^m.0	14^m.0	370 d	Mira (M)
S Gem	Gemini	Hind, 1848	8^m.0	14^m.7	293 d	Mira (M)
T Gem	Gemini	Hind, 1848	8^m.0	15^m.0	288 d	Mira (M)
U Gem	Gemini		8^m.2	14^m.9	(105.2 d)	dwarf nova (UGSS+E)
S Gru	Grus		6^m.0	15^m.0	402 d	Mira (M)
α Her	Hercules	William Herschel, 1759	2^m.74	4^m.0	-	Semiregular (SRC)
g Her (30 Her)	Hercules		4^m.3	6^m.3	89.2 d	Semiregular (SRB)
u Her (68 Her)	Hercules		4^m.69	5^m.37	2.05103 d	Algol (EA/SD)
S Her	Hercules		6^m.4	13^m.8	307 d	Mira (M)
U Her	Hercules		6^m.4	13^m.4	406 d	Mira (M)
X Her	Hercules		7^m.5	8^m.6 (p)	95.0 d	Semiregular (SRB)
R Hor	Horologium		4^m.7	14^m.3	408 d	Mira (M)
U Hor	Horologium		7^m.8	<15^m.1 (p)	348 d	Mira (M)
R Hya	Hydra	Maraldi, 1704	3^m.5	10^m.9	389 d	Mira (M)
S Hya	Hydra	Hind, 1848	7^m.2	13^m.3	257 d	Mira (M)
U Hya	Hydra		7^m.0	9^m.4 (B)	~450 d	Semiregular (SRB)
VW Hya	Hydra		10^m.5	14^m.1	2.69642 d	Algol (EA/SD)
BL Lac	Lacerta		12^m.4	17^m.2 (B)	-	BLLAC prototype	originally thought to be a variable star, but later discovered to be a blazar
R Leo	Leo	Koch, 1782	4^m.4	11^m.3	310 d	Mira (M)
R Lep	Lepus		5^m.5	11^m.7	427 d	Mira (M)	Hind's Crimson Star
RX Lep	Lepus		5^m.0	7^m.4	~60 d	Semiregular (SRB)
R LMi	Leo Minor		6^m.3	13^m.2	372 d	Mira (M)
RU Lup	Lupus		9^m.6	13^m.4 (p)	-	protostar (INT)
β Lyr	Lyra	John Goodricke, 1784	3^m.25	4^m.36	12.91383 d	EB prototype
R Lyr	Lyra		3^m.88	5^m.0	~46 d	Semiregular (SRB)
RR Lyr	Lyra		7^m.06	8^m.12	0.566868 d	RRAB prototype
U Mic	Microscopium		7^m.0	14^m.4	334 d	Mira (M)
U Mon	Monoceros		6^m.1	8^m.8 (p)	91.3 d	RV Tauri (RVB)
V Mon	Monoceros		6^m.0	13^m.9	341 d	Mira (M)
R Nor	Norma		6^m.5	13^m.9 (p)	508 d	Mira (M)
T Nor	Norma		6^m.2	13^m.6	241 d	Mira (M)
R Oct	Octans		6^m.4	13^m.2	405 d	Mira (M)
S Oct	Octans		7^m.2	14^m.0	259 d	Mira (M)
V Oph	Ophiuchus		7^m.3	11^m.6	297 d	Mira (M)
X Oph	Ophiuchus		5^m.9	9^m.2	329 d	Mira (M)
RS Oph	Ophiuchus		4^m.3	12^m.5	-	recurrent nova (NR)
BF Oph	Ophiuchus		6^m.93	7^m.71	4.06775 d	Cepheid (DCEP)
α Ori (Betelgeuse	Orion	John Herschel, 1840	0^m.0	1^m.3	6.39 years	Semiregular (SRC)
δ Ori (Mintaka)	Orion	John Herschel, 1834	2^m.14	2^m.26	5.73248 d	Algol (EA/DM)
R Ori	Orion	Hind, 1848	9^m.05	13^m.4	377 d	Mira (M)
U Ori	Orion		4^m.8	13^m.0	368 d	Mira (M)
W Ori	Orion		8^m.2	12^m.4 (p)	212 d	Semiregular (SRB)
VV Ori	Orion		5^m.31	5^m.66	1.48538 d	Algol (EA/KE:)
CK Ori	Orion		5^m.9	7^m.1	~120 d	Semiregular (SR:)
κ Pav	Pavo		3^m.91	4^m.78	9.09423 d	Cepheid (CEP)
S Pav	Pavo		6^m.6	10^m.4	381 d	Semiregular (SRA)
β Peg	Pegasus	Schmidt, 1847	2^m.31	2^m.74	-	LB
R Peg	Pegasus	Hind, 1848	6^m.9	13^m.8	378 d	Mira (M)
X Peg	Pegasus		8^m.8	14^m.4	201 d	Mira (M)
β Per (Algol)	Perseus	G. Montanari, 1669	2^m.12	3^m.39	2.86730 d	Algol (EA/SD)	The Demon Star
φ Per	Perseus		3^m.96	4^m.11	19.5 d	Gamma Cassiopeiae (GCAS)
ρ Per	Perseus		3^m.30	4^m.0	~50 d	Semiregular (SRB)
X Per	Perseus		6^m.03	7^m.0	-	Gamma Cassiopeiae (GCAS+XP)
ζ Phe	Phoenix		3^m.91	4^m.42	1.66977 d	Algol (EA/DM)
R Pic	Pictor		6^m.35	10^m.1	171 d	Semiregular (SR)
R Psc	Pisces	Hind, 1850	7^m.0	14^m.8	345 d	Mira (M)
TX Psc	Pisces		4^m.79	5^m.20	-	LB
L² Pup	Puppis		2^m.6	6^m.2	141 d	Semiregular (SRB)
RS Pup	Puppis		6^m.52	7^m.67	41.3876 d	Cepheid (DCEP)
T Pyx	Pyxis		7^m.0	15^m.77 (B)	(20 years)	Recurrent nova (NR)
S Scl	Sculptor		5^m.5	13^m.6	363 d	Mira (M)
RR Sco	Scorpius		5^m.0	12^m.4	281 d	Mira (M)
RS Sco	Scorpius		6^m.2	13^m.0	320 d	Mira (M)
RT Sco	Scorpius		7^m.0	15^m.2	449 d	Mira (M)
R Sct	Scutum	Pigott, 1795	4^m.2	8^m.6	146.5 d	RV Tauri (RVA)
R Ser	Serpens	Harding, 1826	5^m.16	14^m.4	356 d	Mira (M)
S Ser	Serpens	Harding, 1828	7^m.0	14^m.1	372 d	Mira (M)
U Sge	Sagitta		6^m.45	9^m.28	3.38062 d	Algol (EA/SD)
WZ Sge	Sagitta		7^m.0	15^m.53 (B)	(33 years)	dwarf nova (UGSU+E+ZZ)
RR Sgr	Sagittarius		5^m.4	14^m.0	336 d	Mira (M)
R Sgr	Sagittarius		6^m.7	12^m.83	270 d	Mira (M)
U Sgr	Sagittarius(in M25)		6^m.28	7^m.15	6.74523 d	Cepheid (DCEP)
RT Sgr	Sagittarius		6^m.0	14^m.1	306 d	Mira (M)
RU Sgr	Sagittarius		6^m.0	13^m.8	240 d	Mira (M)
RY Sgr	Sagittarius		5^m.8	14^m.0	-	R Coronae Borealis (RCB)
VX Sgr	Sagittarius		6^m.52	14^m.0	732 d	Semiregular (SRC)
λ Tau	Taurus	Baxendell, 1848	3^m.37	3^m.91	3.95295 d	Algol (EA/DM)
R Tau	Taurus	Hind, 1849	7^m.6	15^m.8	321 d	Mira (M)
T Tau	Taurus		9^m.3	13^m.5	-	protostar (INT)
SU Tau	Taurus		9^m.1	16^m.86	-	R Coronae Borealis (RCB)
R Tri	Triangulum		5^m.4	12^m.6	267 d	Mira (M)
R UMa	Ursa Major		6^m.5	13^m.7	302 d	Mira (M)
T UMa	Ursa Major		6^m.6	13^m.5	257 d	Mira (M)
U UMa	Ursa Major		6^m.20	6^m.25	-	-
Z UMa	Ursa Major		6^m.2	9^m.4	196 d	Semiregular (SRB)
α UMi (Polaris)	Ursa Minor		1^m.86	2^m.13	3.9696 d	Cepheid (DCEPS)
R Vir	Virgo	Harding, 1809	6^m.1	12^m.1	146 d	Mira (M)
S Vir	Virgo		6^m.3	13^m.2	375 d	Mira (M)
T Vir	Virgo	Bogulawski, 1849	9^m.0	14^m.8	339 d	Mira (M)
U Vir	Virgo	Harding, 1831	7^m.4	13^m.5	207 d	Mira (M)
W Vir	Virgo		9^m.46	10^m.75	17.2736 d	CWA prototype (Cepheid)
SS Vir	Virgo		6^m.0	9^m.6	364 d	Semiregular (SRA)
R Vul	Vulpecula		7^m.0	14^m.3	137 d	Mira (M)
S Vul	Vulpecula	Rogerson, 1837	8^m.69	9^m.42	68.464 d	Cepheid (DCEP)
U Vul	Vulpecula		6^m.73	7^m.54	7.99068 d	Cepheid (DCEP)
Z Vul	Vulpecula		7^m.25	8^m.90	2.45493 d	Algol (EA/SD)
*) visual magnitude, unless marked (B) (= blue) or (p) (= photographic)

Sources

David H. Levy, Observing variable stars : a guide for the beginner
General Catalogue of Variable Stars

Sources

See also