Criteria used to classify variable stars. History of the discovery of variable stars, catalogues
of variable stars. General classification of variable stars, stars exhibiting simultaneously
different types of variability. Types of Cepheids, use of Cepheids as standard candles, Baade-
Wesselink method, Hertzsprung progression. Pulsating stars in the classical instability strip.
Pulsating stars of the main sequence, Beta Cephei and SPB-type variables. Compact pulsating
stars (white dwarfs, hot sub-dwarfs). Pulsating types of red giants. The Sun as a pulsating
star, solar-type oscillations, their nature and detection methods. Binary stars: classification
criteria, proximity effects and tidal effects. Determination of the parameters of the
components of binary systems (including masses, radii and ages). Cataclysmic and pre-
cataclysmic stars, novae. Stars exhibiting rotational variability, pulsars. Eclipsing phenomena
in star-other object (e.g. star-planet) systems. Microlensing, detection methods and use.
Massive photometric sky surveys – motivations and examples. Variability detection methods,
automatic classification of variable stars.
