U Orionis

It was discovered on 1885 December 13 by J.E. Gore and initially it was thought to be a nova in the early stages of decline (Gore's Nova and NOVA Ori 1885 as still listed in SIMBAD), but a spectrum taken at Harvard showed features similar to that of Mira. Thus U Orionis became the first long period variable to be identified by a photograph of its spectrum.

U Orionis lies less than half a degree east of the small-amplitude variable star χ¹ Orionis and less than an arc-minute from the much fainter eclipsing variable UW Orionis. χ¹ Orionis is slightly brighter than U Orionis at its brightest maximum, while UW Orionis is more than a thousand times fainter, similar to U Orionis at minimum.

The star has a low effective temperature (variable with the pulsations, but roughly 2,700 K), a large and bloated radius of 370 R_☉, and a high luminosity, 7,000 times higher than the Sun. If the Sun were replaced with U Orionis, its radius would extend beyond Mars's orbital zone (about 1.7 astronomical units).

According to Rudnitskij, a 12- to 15-year "super-periodicity" has been observed. The author infers such periodicity could coincide with the revolution period of an invisible companion, probably planetary. So far no clear hint of planetary objects has been detected.