Guest star (astronomy)

In Chinese astronomy, the guest star (Chinese: 客星; pinyin: kè xīng; literally: "guest star") is a star which has suddenly appeared in a place where no star had previously been observed and becomes invisible again after some time. The term is a literal translation from ancient Chinese astronomical records.

Modern astronomy recognizes that guest stars are manifestations of cataclysmic variable stars: novae and supernovae. Still, the term "guest star" is used in the context of ancient records, since the exact classification of an astronomical event in question is based on interpretations of old records, rather than on direct observations.

In ancient Chinese astronomy, guest stars were one of the three types of "new stars", the other two (hui xing, “broom star”, a comet with a tail; xing bo, “fuzzy star”, a comet without a tail) being comets in modern understanding. The earliest Chinese record of guest stars is contained in Han Shu (漢書), the history of Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), and all subsequent dynastic histories had such records. Of ancient European chronicles, the possible early indications at supernovae are vague. One likely reference of such an astronomical event could be the supernova of 185 CE recorded by Chinese. Some astronomers have questioned why the notable supernova of 1054 CE was missing from the European records.

Guest appearance

In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular cast, band or other performing group. In music, such an outside performer is often referred to as a guest artist. In performance art, the terms guest role or guest star are also common, the latter term specifically indicating the guest appearance of a celebrity. The latter is often also credited as "special guest star" or "special musical guest star" by some production companies. A guest character is a character being portrayed within a fictional entertainment setting who is only involved as part of the plot once or a few times at most. A guest character has fewer appearances than main characters, supporting characters, and recurring characters.

In pop music, guest appearances are often described with the words featuring, with, or and. It is abbreviated in credit lists as feat., ft., f/, f.. In a television series, a guest star is an actor who appears in one or a few episodes. In radio and television shows, a guest star is a guest of the show who is a celebrity.