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variable comparison table
Subject has spectral type has surface temperature has color has absorption line has period has amplitude is a kind of has emission line has synonym has definition
Be star 11000 to 28000 Kblue-whiteHe I  B starat least one of the Balmer lines at some time Non-supergiant B-type stars, which have shown emission in at least one of the Balmer lines at some time.
bright blue variable greater than 1000 Kelvin    variable  Early-type high-luminosity star with peculiar spectra and large-amplitude light variations over a long time scale.
irregular variable greater than 1000 Kelvin    variable   
luminous blue variableO, B, A, and early Fgreater than 1000 Kelvin    early star Hubble-Sandage variableA variable-star designation for the high-luminosity early type objects.
periodic variable greater than 1000 Kelvin    variable   
semiregular variablecooler than G2greater than 1000 Kelvin   variablelate star  A class of giant and supergiant pulsating stars of spectral class M, K, N, R, or S with a periodic (or semiperiodic) light curve of varying amplitude.
symbiotic star greater than 1000 Kelvin    variable combination variableA term originally used by P. Merrill to describe stars of two essentially dissimilar kinds which seem to occur together and which seem to "need" each other. In practice, it has come to signify a peculiar group of objects (usually spectral type Me) that display a combination of low-temperature absorption spectra and high-temperature emission lines. These objects undergo semiperiodic nova-like outbursts and display the spectral changes of a slow nova superposed on the features of a late-type star. Their spectra are midway between those of planetary nebulae and true stellar objects. A symbiotic star is now usually taken to be a small, hot, blue star surrounded by an extensive variable envelope. As of 1973 about 30 were known.

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