Orion DeepMap 600 Star Chart Top 22 Variable Stars Index
Complied by Steve Gottlieb

Stars are often assigned a Greek alphabet letter code that generally corresponds to their brightness compared to neighboring stars in their respective Constellation. Hence the brightest star in the Constellation Orion will be designated "α Orion". We have left the Greek letter designations in the tables below because these are how stars are labeled on star charts. For those unfamiliar with the letters (all in lower case) they are in order:

α = alpha, β = beta, γ = gamma, δ = delta, ε = epsilon, ζ = zeta, η = eta, θ = theta, ι = iota, κ = kappa, λ = lambda, μ = mu,

ν = nu, ξ = xi, ο = omicron, π = pi, ρ = rho, ς = sigmaf, σ= sigma, τ = tau, υ = upsilon, φ = phi, χ = chi, ψ = psi, ω = omega.

Name	Const	Type	RA	Dec	Period	Magnitude	Description
R Aql	Aql	Mira	19 06.4	+08 14	284d	5.5-12.0	gets redder as mag decreases
RY Aqr	Aqr	eclipsing	21 20.3	-11 01	2.0d	8.8-10.0	period varies; fun to watch
RZ Cas	Cas	eclipsing	02 48.9	+69 38	1.2d	6.2-7.7	fast fade and brightening
U Cep	Cep	eclipsing	01 02.3	+81 51	2.5d	6.8-9.2	far-northern binary, period varies
S Cep	Cep	Mira	21 35.2	+78 37	487d	7.4-12.9	striking deep red color
μ Cep	Cep	semi-reg	21 43.5	+58 47	730d	3.4-5.1	Herschel's Garnet Star - very red
δ Cep	Cep	Cepheid	22 29.2	+58 25	5.4d	3.5-4.4	prototype Cepheid short-period vbl, also a double star
ο Cet	Cet	Mira	02 19.3	-02 59	332d	2.0-10.1	Mira - first long-period vbl discovered
R CrB	CrB	R CrB	15 48.6	+28 09	irregular	5.7-14.8	usually at max, but occasionally sudden fades
Y Cvn	Cvn	semi-reg	12 45.1	+45 26	157d	7.4-10.0	La Superba - vivid red vbl
Chi Cyg	Cyg	Mira	19 50.6	+32 55	407d	3.3-14.2	long-period, dramatic mag variation
R Hya	Hya	Mira	13 39.7	-23 17	389d	3.4-10.9	prototype long-period red giant
R Leo	Leo	Mira	09 47.6	+11 26	312d	4.4-11.3	long-period vbl 5° W of Regulus
R Lep	Lep	Mira	04 59.6	-14 48	427d	5.5-11.7	Hind's Crimson Star - deep red color
RR Lyr	Lyr	RR Lyr	19 25.5	+42 47	13.6hrs	7.1-8.1	short-period pulsating vbl
U Ori	Ori	Mira	05 55.8	+20 10	372d	4.8-12.6	changes 7+ mags in a year
β Per	Per	eclipsing	03 08.3	+40 57	2.9d	2.1-3.4	Algol - each eclipse takes 10 hours
L2 Pup	Pup	semi-reg	07 13.5	-44 38	141d	2.6-6.2	bright, good naked-eye vbl
R Sct	Sct	RV Tau	18 47.5	-05 42	140d	4.5-8.2	alternating high, low min, near M11
R Ser	Ser	Mira	15 50.7	+15 08	356d	5.2-14.4	easy to follow with telescope
RY Sgr	Sgr	R CrB	19 16.5	-33 31	irregular	5.8-14.0	usually 5.8 mag, but suddenly drops