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Cepheid Synthesis Essay

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In the early 1900s, Henrietta Leavitt was studying Cepheids in the Large Magellanic Cloud (the small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way) and found a relationship between their period and luminosity. This meant that, simply by measuring the period of a more distant Cepheid, astronomers could immediately determine its luminosity – and hence, its distance.

How We Use Cepheids
Astronomers use Cepheid stars to measure distance. First, the period of a distant Cepheid is measured. The period is the length of time between brightness peaks. Next, they measure the peak luminosity of the star itself; this gives them the apparent brightness. Then, assuming that all Cepheids of the same period have the same absolute brightness, the distance is computed

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