Spectrophotometric behavior of 56 Arietis.

Archival IUE and published visual spectrophotometric data on the magnetic CP star 56 Ari are combined in nearly 20 energy distributions for different phases of the rotational cycle. Comparison with spectral variations shows that the light variations in the shortest wavelength region are strongly influenced by the nonuniformity of the silicon distribution over the stellar surface. The variations in the visual are in antiphase to the UV variations but there exists no null region where the amplitude of light variations is zero over the period of rotation. Instead, the light curve changes its shape continuously. Comparison of the difference of fluxes in two phases with the one predicted by variable blanketing shows an overall agreement. However, some important differences remain unexplained. The total integrated flux varies with phase by about 2.5 percent.