A hidden companion for the cepheid V473 Lyr. The study “X-Ray Observations of the Peculiar Cepheid V473 Lyr Identify A Low-mass Companion” of N. R. Evans (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory) recently appeared on AJ AJ
Cepheids are pulsating giant stars, whose luminosity varies periodically. This is an important class of stars for several reasons. For instance, the period of their pulsations is related to their intrinsic luminosity. This makes cepheids a class of astronomical “standard candles”, e.g. sources whose intrinsic luminosity can be estimated, allowing us to estimate their distances by comparing intrinsic and observed
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