extrinsic variable star

extrinsic variable star

[ek¦strinz·ik ‚ver·ē·ə·bəl ′stär]

(astronomy)

A variable star, such as an eclipsing variable, whose variation in apparent brightness is due to some external cause, rather than to actual variaiton in the amount of radiation emitted.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.