A

David

Darling

FK Comae Berenices star

FK Comae Berenices light curve.

Light curve for FK Comae Berenices, plotted from TESS satellite data. Inset: a light curve showing the long term variability adapted from Panov and Dimitrov, A&A 467, 229–235 (2007).


An FK Comae Berenices star, named after the prototype, is a fast-spinning giant star of spectral type G or K (about as warm or slightly cooler than the Sun but much larger) whose light variations have the same period as the rotation – typically a few days. Changes in brightness of a few tenths of a magnitude are caused by a surface that is more luminous in some areas than others.

 

FK Com stars may represent a late stage in the evolution of common-envelope stars at which the stellar cores have coalesced.