The stars are known as Cepheid variables.

这恒星就是我们熟知的造父变星。

Skowron explained that Cepheids are giant stars that are far brighter than the sun.

斯考伦解释说，造父变星是比太阳明亮得多的超巨星。

The system belongs to a kind of binary star known as cataclysmic variable.

该系统属于种被称为激变变星的双星。

There are more than a thousand known cataclysmic variables.

已知的激变变星超过千种。

And... And right in the middle, there's a variable star that I discovered.

而… … 而在正中央有颗我所发现的变星。

Only 12 or so have orbital periods below 75 minutes.

只有12种左右的激变变星拥有低于75分钟的轨道周期。

They observed variable stars in the Andromeda Galaxy that allowed them to get the distance to the galaxy.

他们观测了仙女座星系中的变星，这使得他们能够到达星系的距离。

And since there were pulsating Cepheid stars whose actual distances we already knew, this let us build a cosmic measuring stick.

既然我们已经知道这有律脉动的造父变星的实际距离，这就给我们造出把宇宙测量尺。

Much of her research focused on variable stars and novae, exploding white dwarfs.

她的研究有很大部分集中在变星和新星，即正在爆炸的白矮星上。

Cepheid Variable A pulsating star whose brightness increases and decreases over a regular period.

造父变星 种亮度随律周期变化而增减的脉动星。其亮度越高，亮度变化周期越长。

A celestial body that has a known luminosity, such as a Cepheid variable star.

已知光度的天体，如造父变星。

We make measurements of the Hubble constant, the current expansion rate, locally using stars like Cepheids.

我们通过像造父变星这样的恒星，在局部范围内测量哈勃常数，即当前的宇宙膨胀率。

However, Cepheids can only be used to measure distances from about 1 kiloparsec to 50 Megaparsec.

然而，造父变星只能用来测量大约从1千秒差距到50兆秒差距的距离。

The term Cepheid variable was introduced later.

后来引入了“造父变星”这术语。

That's what happens when we're looking at these Cepheids through the dust.

这就是我们透过尘埃观察这造父变星时发生的情况。

A Cepheid's variability period is directed related to its luminosity.

造父变星的变光周期与其亮度直接相关。

Cepheids are quite rare, but at least one of them is well known to us—Polaris, the pole-star, is a Cepheid.

造父变星非常罕见, 但至少其中颗是我们所熟知的 - - 极星北极星就是造父变星。

The longer the variability period, the more luminous the Cepheid is.

变星的周期越长，其亮度就越亮。

Cepheids with longer periods seemed to be brighter on average than those with shorter periods.

周期较长的造父变星平均亮度似乎比周期较短的造父变星更高。

Astronomers observe the Cepheids and compare their apparent brightness with their intrinsic brightness.

天文学家观察造父变星，并将其视亮度与内在亮度进行比较。