Meaning & use
light curve
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Meaning
nouncountabletechnical
A graph showing how the brightness of a star or other object changes over time.
Grammar: Countable: one light curve, many light curves; often followed by of.
Patterns
- the light curve of something
- a light curve shows something
The light curve of the star dipped every three days, which suggested a planet passing in front of it.
Students plotted a light curve from the telescope's nightly measurements.
A sudden spike in the light curve showed that the supernova had begun to brighten.
Word forms
| plural | light curves |
|---|
Common combinations
- plot a light curve
- She plotted a light curve from three weeks of data.
- analyze a light curve
- The team analyzed the light curve for signs of a transit.
- the light curve of a star
- The light curve of the variable star repeats every week.
- a flat light curve
- A flat light curve means the brightness barely changed.
- a periodic light curve
- The periodic light curve pointed to a pair of orbiting stars.
Synonyms and how they differ
- brightness graph
- Brightness graph is an everyday description, while light curve is the exact term astronomers use.
- photometric curve
- Photometric curve is a rarer and more formal wording; light curve is the standard phrase.
Word family
- light noun
- the energy that lets us see, and here the brightness measured
- curve noun
- a smoothly bending line, including on a graph
- photometry noun
- the measurement of light intensity
Practice
Astronomers studied the ___ to see when the distant star got dimmer.
Choose one answer.
A light curve is a graph of brightness over time. A light year measures distance, so it cannot show dimming.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “light curve”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.