Editing Light curve (section)

{{Short description|Graph of light intensity of a celestial object or region, as a function of time}}
{{about|astronomical graphs of brightness variations|photosynthetic response graphs|Light curve (botany)}}
[[File:201 Penelope light curve.png|thumb|upright=1.4|Light curve of the asteroid [[201 Penelope]] based on images taken on 6 October 2006 at [[Mount John University Observatory]]. Shows just over one full [[rotation period|rotation]], which lasts 3.7474 hours.]]

In [[astronomy]], a '''light curve''' is a [[graph (discrete mathematics)|graph]] of the [[Radiance|light intensity]] of a [[celestial object]] or region as a function of time, typically with the [[magnitude (astronomy)|magnitude]] of [[light]] received on the ''y''-axis and with time on the ''x''-axis. The light is usually in a particular frequency interval or [[frequency band|band]].

Light curves can be periodic, as in the case of [[eclipsing binary|eclipsing binaries]], [[Cepheid variable]]s, other periodic variables, and [[Methods of detecting extrasolar planets#Transit photometry|transiting]] [[extrasolar planets]]; or [[aperiodic]], like the light curve of a [[nova]], [[cataclysmic variable star]], [[supernova]], [[gravitational microlensing|microlensing event]], or binary as observed during [[occultation]] events. The study of a light curve and other observations can yield considerable information about the physical process that produces such a light curve, or constrain the physical theories about it.