One of a group of highly luminous yellow or orange super giant stars, whose brightness varies in a regular manner as the result of stellar pulsations: Cepheid variable is a yellow super giant star that fluctuates regularly in brightness every few days or weeks as a result of pulsations.

The time that a Cepheid variable takes to pulsate is directly related to its average brightness; the longer the period, the brighter the star.

"Cepheus" is a constellation of the northern hemisphere near Cassiopeia (a W-shaped constellation in the northern hemisphere near Polaris) and Draco (a large faint constellation of the northern hemisphere).

1. An economic magnitude describing behavior that takes place over time and is therefore meaningful to a unit of time: Examples of flow variables in economics include: the value of exports (dollars per year), demand for foreign exchange (euros per day), and migration (people per month).

2. An activity that takes place over time: Income is a flow variable that occurs per week, per month, or per year.

A variable star typified by the red giant Mira Ceti: The light curve of the Mira variable is irregular, with a varying range of illumination and of a period between peaks of brightness.