Tipsy pulsation of classical Cepheids – lessons from space photometry

Space photometric data of the Kepler Cepheid, V1154 Cygni, and those of SZ Tauri (MOST photometry) indicate that classical Cepheids are not strictly regular pulsators. Cycle-to-cycle period changes and variations in the shape of the light curve are revealed from the continuous photometry covering 6 cycles of SZ Tau pulsation and several hundred pulsation cycles of V1154 Cyg. To make the situation more interesting/complicated, the MOST light curve of RT Aurigae (a Cepheid pulsating in the fundamental mode) shows stellar oscillations in a highly repetitive manner.