Encyclopedia > Light curve

  Article Content

Light curve

In astronomy, a light curve is a graph of light intensity as a function of time. The light is usually in a particular frequency interval or band.

Light curves can be periodic, as in the case of eclipsing binaries, cepheid variables and other variables, or aperiodic, like the light curve of a nova, a cataclysmic variable star or a supernova.

The study of the light curve, together with other observations, can yield considerable information about the physical process that produces it or constrain the physical theories about it.



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Wheatley Heights, New York

...     Contents Wheatley Heights, New York Wheatley Heights is a town located in Suffolk County, New York. As of the 2000 census, the town ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 38 ms