Editing Antares (section)

=== History ===
[[File:Antares near the Sun every year around 2 December.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Antares near the Sun on 30 November 2012]]
[[Radial velocity]] variations were observed in the spectrum of Antares in the early 20th century,<ref name=wright/> and attempts were made to derive [[spectroscopic binary|spectroscopic]] orbits.<ref name=lunt/> It became apparent that the small variations could not be due to orbital motion, and they were actually caused by pulsation of the star's atmosphere. Even in 1928, it was calculated that the size of the star must vary by about 20%.<ref name=spencerjones/>

Antares was first reported to have a companion star by [[Johann Tobias Bürg]] during an occultation on April 13, 1819,<ref name="burnham" /> although this was not widely accepted and dismissed as a possible atmospheric effect.<ref name="Johnson1879" /> It was then observed by Scottish astronomer [[James William Grant (astronomer)|James William Grant]] [[Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh|FRSE]] while in [[India]] on 23 July 1844.<ref name=wikisource/> It was rediscovered by [[Ormsby M. Mitchel]] in 1846<ref name=crossley/> and measured by [[William Rutter Dawes]] in April 1847.<ref name=innes/><ref name=dawes/>

In 1952, Antares was reported to vary in brightness. A photographic magnitude range from 3.00 to 3.16 was described.<ref name=cousins/> The brightness has been monitored by the [[American Association of Variable Star Observers]] since 1945,<ref name=aavso/> and it has been classified as an ''LC'' [[slow irregular variable]] star, whose [[apparent magnitude]] slowly varies between extremes of +0.6 and +1.6, although usually near magnitude +1.0. There is no obvious periodicity, but statistical analyses have suggested periods of 1,733 days or {{val|1,650|640}} days.<ref name="kiss" /> No separate long secondary period has been detected,<ref name="percy" /> although it has been suggested that primary periods longer than a thousand days are analogous to long secondary periods.<ref name="kiss" />

Research published in 2018 demonstrated that [[Ngarrindjeri]] Aboriginal people from [[South Australia]] observed the variability of Antares and incorporated it into their oral traditions as Waiyungari (meaning 'red man').<ref name=hamacher/>