first variable star (apart from novae) to be discovered, lying in the southern constellation Cetus, and the prototype of a class known as long-period variables, or Mira stars. There is some evidence that ancient Babylonian astronomers noticed its variable character. In a systematic study in 1638, a Dutch astronomer, Phocylides Holwarda, found that the star disappeared and reappeared in a varying cycle of about 330 days. It thus acquired the name Mira (Latin: Miraculous). Its brightness varies from cycle to cycle, but generally it is about magnitude 3 at maximum light and magnitude 9 at minimum. Mira is a binary; the red giant primary has a faint bluish white companion.