juliensimon/gcvs-variable-stars

---
license: cc-by-4.0
pretty_name: "General Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS)"
language:
- en
description: "The canonical catalog of variable stars maintained since 1948 by the Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow. Sourced via VizieR CDS Strasbourg."
task_categories:
- tabular-classification
tags:
- space
- variable-star
- astronomy
- gcvs
- stellar
- open-data
size_categories:
- 10K<n<100K
---

# General Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS)


The General Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS) is **the** canonical reference catalog of variable
stars, maintained since 1948 by the Sternberg Astronomical Institute at Moscow State University.
Currently **60,894** variable stars with 544 variability types.

## Dataset description

Variable stars are stars whose brightness changes over time, either due to intrinsic physical
processes (pulsation, eruption, rotation) or extrinsic geometry (eclipsing binaries). The GCVS
is the internationally recognized authority for variable star designations and classifications.
It has been compiled and updated for over 75 years, serving as the foundation for stellar
variability research.

Each entry includes the GCVS designation, coordinates, variability type, magnitude range,
period, epoch of maximum, and spectral type where known.

## Schema

| Column | Type | Description |
|--------|------|-------------|
| `gcvs_name` | string | GCVS designation (e.g. "R And", "delta Cep") |
| `ra_deg` | float64 | Right ascension J2000 (degrees) |
| `dec_deg` | float64 | Declination J2000 (degrees) |
| `variable_type` | string | Variability type (e.g. M, SR, EA, DCEP, RR) |
| `magnitude_max` | float64 | Maximum brightness (mag, lower = brighter) |
| `magnitude_min_flag` | string | Flag on minimum magnitude (e.g. "(" for amplitude) |
| `magnitude_min` | float64 | Minimum brightness (mag) |
| `period_days` | float64 | Period in days |
| `epoch_jd` | float64 | Epoch of maximum/minimum (Julian Date) |
| `spectral_type` | string | Spectral type |

## Quick stats

- **60,894** variable stars
- **544** variability types
- **40,096** with known period
- **15,116** with spectral type
- Top types: M (7,920), RRAB (7,590), EA (4,113), EW (3,616), LB (2,800)

## Usage

```python
from datasets import load_dataset

ds = load_dataset("juliensimon/gcvs-variable-stars", split="train")
df = ds.to_pandas()

# Cepheid variables (standard candles for distance measurement)
cepheids = df[df["variable_type"].str.startswith("DCEP", na=False)]
print(f"{len(cepheids):,} classical Cepheids")

# Eclipsing binaries
eclipsing = df[df["variable_type"].str.startswith("E", na=False)]
print(f"{len(eclipsing):,} eclipsing binaries")

# Period-luminosity distribution
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
valid = df.dropna(subset=["period_days", "magnitude_max"])
valid = valid[valid["period_days"] > 0]
plt.scatter(valid["period_days"], valid["magnitude_max"], s=0.5, alpha=0.3)
plt.xscale("log")
plt.gca().invert_yaxis()
plt.xlabel("Period (days)")
plt.ylabel("Magnitude (max brightness)")
plt.title("GCVS Period vs Magnitude")
```

## Data source

[General Catalogue of Variable Stars](https://www.sai.msu.su/gcvs/gcvs/)
(Samus' N.N., Kazarovets E.V., Durlevich O.V., Kireeva N.N., Pastukhova E.N., 2017,
Astronomy Reports, 61, 80), accessed via [VizieR](https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/), CDS Strasbourg.

## Update schedule

Quarterly (1st of the month at 08:00 UTC) via [GitHub Actions](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets).

## Related datasets

- [pulsar-catalog](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/pulsar-catalog) -- ATNF Pulsar Catalogue
- [messier-catalog](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/messier-catalog) -- Messier deep-sky objects
- [ngc-ic-catalog](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/ngc-ic-catalog) -- NGC/IC deep-sky catalog

## Pipeline

Source code: [juliensimon/space-datasets](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets)

## Citation

```bibtex
@dataset{gcvs_variable_stars,
author = {Simon, Julien},
title = {General Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS)},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Hugging Face},
url = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/gcvs-variable-stars},
note = {Based on GCVS (Samus' et al. 2017) via VizieR CDS Strasbourg}
}
```

## License

[CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

license: cc-by-4.0
pretty_name: "变星总表（General Catalogue of Variable Stars，GCVS）"
language:
- en
description: "本数据集为莫斯科斯特恩贝格天文研究所自1948年起维护的权威变星目录，数据通过斯特拉斯堡CDS的VizieR服务获取。"
task_categories:
- tabular-classification
tags:
- space
- variable-star
- astronomy
- gcvs
- stellar
- open-data
size_categories:
- 10K<n<100K

# 变星总表（General Catalogue of Variable Stars，GCVS）


变星总表（General Catalogue of Variable Stars，GCVS）是**权威的**变星参考目录，由莫斯科国立大学斯特恩贝格天文研究所自1948年起持续维护。当前收录**60894颗**变星，涵盖**544种**变光类型。

## 数据集说明

变星是指亮度随时间变化的天体，其亮度变化源于内部物理过程（脉动、爆发、自转）或外部几何效应（食双星系统）。变星总表是国际公认的变星命名与分类权威目录，历经75余年的编制与更新，是恒星变光研究的核心基础数据集。

每条数据条目包含变星的GCVS命名、天球坐标、变光类型、星等范围、光变周期、极大历元以及已知的光谱型。

## 数据结构

| 列名 | 数据类型 | 描述 |
|--------|------|-------------|
| `gcvs_name` | string | GCVS命名（例如"R And"、"delta Cep"） |
| `ra_deg` | float64 | J2000.0坐标系赤经（单位：度） |
| `dec_deg` | float64 | J2000.0坐标系赤纬（单位：度） |
| `variable_type` | string | 变光类型（例如M、SR、EA、DCEP、RR） |
| `magnitude_max` | float64 | 最大视星等（星等值越低，亮度越高） |
| `magnitude_min_flag` | string | 最小星等标记（例如"("表示振幅） |
| `magnitude_min` | float64 | 最小视星等（单位：星等） |
| `period_days` | float64 | 光变周期（单位：天） |
| `epoch_jd` | float64 | 极大/极小历元（儒略日） |
| `spectral_type` | string | 光谱型 |

## 快速统计数据

- **60894颗**变星
- **544种**变光类型
- **40096颗**拥有已知光变周期
- **15116颗**拥有已知光谱型
- 热门变光类型：M（7920颗）、RRAB（7590颗）、EA（4113颗）、EW（3616颗）、LB（2800颗）

## 使用示例

python
from datasets import load_dataset

ds = load_dataset("juliensimon/gcvs-variable-stars", split="train")
df = ds.to_pandas()

# 经典造父变星（用于距离测量的标准烛光）
cepheids = df[df["variable_type"].str.startswith("DCEP", na=False)]
print(f"共找到{len(cepheids):,}颗经典造父变星")

# 食双星系统
eclipsing = df[df["variable_type"].str.startswith("E", na=False)]
print(f"共找到{len(eclipsing):,}颗食双星")

# 周期-星等分布
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
valid = df.dropna(subset=["period_days", "magnitude_max"])
valid = valid[valid["period_days"] > 0]
plt.scatter(valid["period_days"], valid["magnitude_max"], s=0.5, alpha=0.3)
plt.xscale("log")
plt.gca().invert_yaxis()
plt.xlabel("光变周期（天）")
plt.ylabel("星等（最大亮度）")
plt.title("GCVS光变周期与星等分布")

## 数据来源

[变星总表](https://www.sai.msu.su/gcvs/gcvs/)
(Samus N.N., Kazarovets E.V., Durlevich O.V., Kireeva N.N., Pastukhova E.N., 2017,
《天文学报告》, 61, 80), 通过[VizieR](https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/)（斯特拉斯堡CDS）获取。

## 更新计划

每季度更新一次（每月1日UTC时间08:00），更新流程通过[GitHub Actions](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets)实现。

## 相关数据集

- [脉冲星目录](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/pulsar-catalog) —— ATNF脉冲星目录
- [梅西耶目录](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/messier-catalog) —— 梅西耶深空天体目录
- [NGC/IC目录](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/ngc-ic-catalog) —— NGC/IC深空天体目录

## 数据处理流程

源代码仓库：[juliensimon/space-datasets](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets)

## 引用格式

bibtex
@dataset{gcvs_variable_stars,
author = {Simon, Julien},
title = {General Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS)},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Hugging Face},
url = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/gcvs-variable-stars},
note = {基于GCVS（Samus等，2017），通过斯特拉斯堡CDS的VizieR服务获取}
}

## 许可证

[CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)