Peculiarities of Blazhko Stars: New Insights

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.