R Cygni is a

variable star A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are classified as ...

of the Mira type in the constellation Cygnus, less than 4' from θ Cygni. This is a

red giant A red giant is a luminous giant star of low or intermediate mass (roughly 0.3–8 solar masses ()) in a late phase of stellar evolution. The outer atmosphere is inflated and tenuous, making the radius large and the surface temperature around or ...

star on the

asymptotic giant branch The asymptotic giant branch (AGB) is a region of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram populated by evolved cool luminous stars. This is a period of stellar evolution undertaken by all low- to intermediate-mass stars (about 0.5 to 8 solar masses) lat ...

located around 2,200

light year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...

s away. It is an S-type star ranging between spectral types S2.5,9e to S6,9e(Tc). Stars at this mass range and

evolutionary Evolution is change in the heredity, heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the Gene expression, expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to ...

stage are pulsationally unstable, displaying a variation in their light output. R Cygni has a maximum magnitude of 6.1 and a minimum magnitude of 14.4, with a period of 426.45 days. The variation of this star was discovered by English astronomer

N. R. Pogson Norman Robert Pogson, CIE (23 March 1829 – 23 June 1891) was an English astronomer who worked in India at the Madras observatory. He discovered several minor planets and made observations on comets. He introduced a mathematical scale of stel ...

in 1852, and it has a history of recorded brightness measurements stretching back more than a century. R Cygni shows distinct period-doubling, where alternate maxima are of different brightness, hence the real period of pulsation could be considered to be twice that from one maximum to the next. The

Catalog of Components of Double and Multiple Stars The Catalog of Components of Double and Multiple Stars, or CCDM, is an astrometric star catalogue of double and multiple stars. It was made by Jean Dommanget and Omer Nys at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in order to provide an input catalogu ...

lists 10th magnitude BD+49 3065 as a companion to R Cygni, at a separation of 91", and both stars lie at approximately the same distance. The

Washington Double Star Catalog The Washington Double Star Catalog, or WDS, is a catalog of double stars, maintained at the United States Naval Observatory. The catalog contains positions, magnitudes, proper motions and spectral types and has entries for (as of June 2017) 141,7 ...

additionally lists a 15th magnitude star as a companion at a separation of about 14".

References

{{Stars of Cygnus S-type stars Mira variables Cygnus (constellation) Durchmusterung objects 185456 031822 Cygni, R Emission-line stars