R Aurigae (R Aur) is a Mira variable, a pulsating red giant star in the constellation of Auriga, at a distance of 930 light years. R Aurigae has an apparent visual magnitude which varies between 6.7 and 13.9 with a period of 450 days. 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. The discoverer of R Aurigae's variability is not known, but it was widely observed in the late 19th century and its spectrum was described in 1890.