Highlights - 05 February 2010 (vol. 510)

In section 8. Stellar atmospheres

“First CoRoT light curves of RR Lyrae stars. Complex multiplet structure and non-radial pulsation detections in V1127 Aquilae”, by M. Chadid, J. M. Benko, R. Szabo, M. Paparo, E. Chapellier, K. Kolenberg, E. Poretti, G. Bono, E.Guggenberger, J.F. Le Borgne, H. Trinquet, S. Artemenko, M. Auvergne, A. Baglin, J. Debosscher, K. N.Grankin, and W. W. Weiss, A&A 510, A39

The Blazhko effect is a periodic modulation of both the amplitude and the phase of the main pulsation of RR Lyr stars on timescales varying from dozens to hundreds of days. None of the currently suggested models is able to explain the complexity of the observed properties of the Blazhko modulation. In this paper, the authors analyze the light curve of V1127 Aql obtained by the CoRoT satellite over five continuously covered Blazhko cycles and derive a host of new observational constraints that must be explained by models.