American astronomer Edwin Brant Frost discovered the variation in radial velocity of Beta Cephei in 1902, initially concluding it was a spectroscopic binary. Paul Guthnick was the first to detect a variation in brightness, in 1913. Beta Canis Majoris and Sigma Scorpii were found to be variable not long afterwards, Vesto Slipher noted in 1904 that Sigma Scorpii's radial velocity was variable, and R.D. Levee and Otto Struve concluded this was due to the star's pulsations in 1952 and 1955 respectively. These variables were often called Beta Canis Majoris variables because Beta Canis Majoris was the most closely studied example in the first half of the 20th century, though its location in the southern sky meant that its lowness in the sky hampered observations. However, Beta Cephei was the first member of the class to be discovered and so they are generally called Beta Cephei variables—despite the similarity of name (and risk of confusion) with Cepheid variables.