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LiveScience
LiveScience
Samantha Mathewson

The unexpected behavior of pulsing stars could help us measure the universe

RS puppis star.

New research offers the most precise measurements yet of pulsating Cepheid stars, which may hold clues about the immense size and scale of our universe.

Cepheids are a type of variable star that brighten and dim within a short period of time, exhibiting specific luminosity patterns. However, while this rhythmic behavior allows astronomers to calculate distances across space based on changes, or pulses, in the stars' brightnesses, it can also make the stars challenging to observe in general. 

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