Peculiarities of Blazhko Stars: New Insights

TL;DR

This paper discusses new observations and properties of Blazhko stars, suggesting the effect may be common among RR Lyrae stars, but the underlying cause remains unknown, highlighting the need for further research.

Contribution

It provides recent observational insights into Blazhko stars and compares their properties with non-modulated RR Lyrae stars, emphasizing the prevalence of the effect.

Findings

Blazhko effect may be more common than previously thought

Recent space-based observations offer new clues about the effect

The cause of the amplitude and phase modulation remains unknown

Abstract

With increasingly accurate data on RR Lyrae stars we find that the Blazhko effect may be a rule rather than an exception. However, we still do not know what is the cause of this mysterious amplitude and phase modulation. In my talk, I intended to give a glimpse of the properties of Blazhko stars, presenting recent findings concerning what makes Blazhko stars different from their non-modulated counterparts. Recent observations of Blazhko stars obtained from space give some important clues that deserve further exploration.