R Coronae Borealis star

[¦är kə¦rō‚nē ‚bȯr·ē′al·əs ‚stär]

(astrophysics)

A rare type of irregular variable star which has long periods of maximum brightness followed by a sudden, unpredictable reduction in brightness of several magnitudes, and a slower, sometimes erratic return to the original brightness.

References in periodicals archive ?

They used the Spitzer Space Telescope to take infrared spectra of R Coronae Borealis stars to look for buckyballs in their chemical make-up.

They found these molecules do not occur in those R Coronae Borealis stars with little or no hydrogen, an observation contrary to expectation.

Buckyballs, largest known molecules in space, more common than thought

The stellar classes discussed in detail at the conference include R Coronae Borealis stars, extreme helium stars, Wolf-Rayet central stars of planetary nebulae, white dwarfs, and helium-rich subdwarf O and B stars.