In 1862 R Aurigae was found to be a variable star at Bonn Observatory.[9] It was widely observed in the late 19th century and its spectrum was described in 1890.[10] In 1907 it appeared with its variable star designation in Annie Jump Cannon's Second Catalogue of Variable Stars.[9]
R Aurigae has an apparent visual magnitude which varies between 6.7 and 13.9 with a period of 450 days.[3] The light curve varies strongly from cycle to cycle, sometimes having a pronounced hump on the ascending branch and usually having rise and fall times approximately equal. The cycle period has oscillated slowly between about 450 and 465 days.
R Aurigae is catalogued as a component of a double star, with the 10th magnitude HD 233095, although the two stars are unrelated.[11]
^Skiff, B. A. (1994). "Photometry of Stars in the Field of R Aurigae". Information Bulletin on Variable Stars. 4058: 1. Bibcode:1994IBVS.4058....1S.
^ abHR 1707, database entry, The Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed. (Preliminary Version), D. Hoffleit and W. H. Warren, Jr., CDS ID V/50. Accessed on line November 10, 2009.
^HD 34019, database entry, Catalog of Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (CADARS), 3rd edition, L. E. Pasinetti-Fracassini, L. Pastori, S. Covino, and A. Pozzi, CDS ID II/224. Accessed on line November 10, 2009.