Alpha Cygni variables are variable stars which exhibit non-radial pulsations, meaning that some portions of the stellar surface are contracting at the same time other parts expand. They are supergiant stars of spectral types B or A. Variations in brightness on the order of 0.1 magnitudes are associated with the pulsations, which often seem irregular, due to beating of multiple pulsation periods. The pulsations typically have periods of several days to several weeks.
WR 136 is a Wolf–Rayet star located in the constellation Cygnus. It is in the center of the Crescent Nebula. Its age is estimated to be around 4.7 million years and it is nearing the end of its life. Within a few hundred thousand years, it is expected to explode as a supernova.
HD 74180 is a binary star in the constellation Vela. It is approximately 3,200 light years from Earth. The primary component is a yellow-white F-type supergiant with a mean apparent magnitude of +3.81, with a 10th magnitude companion 37.5 arcseconds distant.
HR Carinae is a luminous blue variable star located in the constellation Carina. It is surrounded by a vast nebula of ejected nuclear-processed material because this star has a multiple shell expanding atmosphere. This star is among the most luminous stars in the Milky Way. It has very broad emission wings on the Balmer lines, reminiscent from the broad lines observed in the spectra of O and Wolf–Rayet stars. A distance of 5 kpc and a bolometric magnitude of -9.4 put HR Car among the most luminous stars of the galaxy.
NO Aurigae is a pulsating variable star in the constellation Auriga. It is an unusually-luminous asymptotic giant branch star about 3,500 light years away.
89 Herculis is a binary star system located about 4,700 light years away from the Sun in the northern constellation of Hercules. It is visible to the naked eye as a faint, fifth magnitude star. The system is moving closer to the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of −28.5 km/s.
V381 Cephei is a triple star system in the northern constellation of Cepheus. Its apparent magnitude is slightly variable between 5.5 and 5.7.
HD 168607 is a blue hypergiant and luminous blue variable (LBV) star located in the constellation of Sagittarius, easy to see with amateur telescopes. It forms a pair with HD 168625, also a blue hypergiant and possible luminous blue variable, that can be seen at the south-east of M17, the Omega Nebula.
ξ Cygni is a spectroscopic binary star in the constellation Cygnus. Its apparent magnitude is 3.73 and it is located around 360 parsecs (1,200 ly) away.
55 Cygni is a blue supergiant star in the constellation Cygnus. It is thought to be a member of the Cygnus OB7 stellar association at about 2,700 light years.
HD 160529 is a luminous blue variable (LBV) star located in the constellation of Scorpius. With an apparent magnitude of around +6.8 cannot be seen with the naked eye except under very favourable conditions, but it is easy to see with binoculars or amateur telescopes.
HD 64760 is a class B0.5 supergiant star in the constellation Puppis. Its apparent magnitude is 4.24 and it is approximately 1,660 light years away based on parallax.
KQ Puppis is a spectroscopic binary variable star in the constellation Puppis. A red supergiant star and a hot main sequence star orbit each other every 9,742 days. Its apparent magnitude varies between 4.82 and 5.17.
UY Scuti (BD-12°5055) is an extreme red hypergiant or red supergiant star in the constellation Scutum. It is considered one of the largest known stars by radius and is also a pulsating variable star, with a maximum brightness of magnitude 8.29 and a minimum of magnitude 10.56. It has an estimated radius of 1,708 solar radii (1.188×109 kilometres; 7.94 astronomical units), thus a volume nearly 5 billion times that of the Sun. It is approximately 2.9 kiloparsecs (9,500 light-years) from Earth. If placed at the center of the Solar System, its photosphere would at least engulf the orbit of Jupiter.
HDE 316285 is a blue supergiant star in the constellation Sagittarius. It is a candidate luminous blue variable and lies about 6,000 light years away in the direction of the galactic centre.
3 Geminorum is a blue supergiant star in the constellation Gemini. It is a small amplitude pulsating variable and a close double star, with a mean combined apparent visual magnitude of about 5.7.
Y Lyncis is a semiregular variable star in the constellation Lynx. It is an asymptotic giant branch star of spectral type M6S, with a luminosity class of Ib, indicating a supergiant luminosity. It is around 1,160 light years away.
DS Crucis is a variable star near the open cluster NGC 4755, which is also known as the Kappa Crucis Cluster or Jewel Box Cluster. It is in the constellation Crux.
R71 is a star in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) in the constellation Mensa. It is classified as a luminous blue variable and is one of the most luminous stars in the LMC. It lies three arc-minutes southwest of the naked-eye star β Mensae.
R Puppis is a variable star in the constellation Puppis. It is a rare yellow hypergiant and a candidate member of the open cluster NGC 2439. It is also an MK spectral standard for the class G2 0-Ia.
