WEBVTT FILE 1 00:00:00.500 --> 00:00:02.535 Almost all observations of the universe 2 00:00:02.535 --> 00:00:05.538 come by collecting light in various wavelengths. 3 00:00:05.705 --> 00:00:08.541 This light can show variations in brightness, 4 00:00:08.575 --> 00:00:13.346 reveal structure in cosmic objects, and contain huge amounts of information 5 00:00:13.346 --> 00:00:16.850 in how its wavelengths are distributed across a spectrum. 6 00:00:17.517 --> 00:00:21.688 Space isn't static, and recording data through a given duration called 7 00:00:21.688 --> 00:00:25.892 Time-Domain Astronomy tracks how details of an object change. 8 00:00:25.892 --> 00:00:28.395 An object can vary, it can move, 9 00:00:28.395 --> 00:00:29.763 or it can do both. 10 00:00:30.263 --> 00:00:34.200 There are three main classes of how an object can vary in time. 11 00:00:34.200 --> 00:00:38.838 Periodic, quasiperiodic, and transient. Periodic change 12 00:00:38.905 --> 00:00:42.442 means there is a regular fixed pattern to the change. 13 00:00:43.109 --> 00:00:46.246 Quasiperiodic means that there is a pattern and the change 14 00:00:46.346 --> 00:00:49.449 or event happens again and again, but not as regularly. 15 00:00:49.883 --> 00:00:53.887 Transient events are less predictable and often happen only once. 16 00:00:54.054 --> 00:00:58.458 These are the hardest to observe because they can be brief and start unexpectedly.