Beta Cephei variables, also known as Beta Canis Majoris stars, are variable stars that exhibit small rapid variations in their brightness due to pulsations of the stars' surfaces, thought due to the unusual properties of iron at temperatures of 200,000 K in their interiors. These stars are usually hot blue-white stars of spectral class B and should not be confused with Cepheid variables, which are named after Delta Cephei and are luminous supergiant stars. Properties Beta Cephei variables are main-sequence stars of masses between about 7 and 20 M (that is, 7–20 times as massive as the Sun). Among their number are some of the brightest stars in the sky, such as Beta Crucis and Beta Centauri; Spica is also classified as a Beta Cephei variable but mysteriously stopped pulsating in 1970. Typically, they change in brightness by 0.01 to 0.3 magnitudes with periods of 0.1 to 0.3 days (2.4–7.2 hours). The prototype of these variable stars, Beta Cephei, shows variation in apparent magnitude from +3.16 to +3.27 with a period of 4.57 hours. The point of maximum brightness occurs when the star is smallest and hottest. Their variation in brightness is much greater—up to 1 magnitude—in ultraviolet wavelengths. A small number of stars have been identified with periods shorter than one hour, corresponding to 1/4 of the fundamental radial pulsation period and 3/8 of the fundamental period. They also have relatively low amplitudes and a very narrow range of spectral types B2-3 IV-V. They are known as the short period group and the GCVS acronym BCEPS. The pulsations of Beta Cephei variables are driven by the kappa mechanism and p-mode pulsations. At a depth within the star where the temperature reaches 200,000 K, there is an abundance of iron. Iron at these temperatures will increase (rather than decrease) in opacity, resulting in the buildup of energy within the layer. This results in increased pressure that pushes the layer back out again, the cycle repeating itself in a matter of hours. This is known as the Fe bump or Z bump (Z standing for the star's metallicity). The similar slowly pulsating B stars show g-mode pulsations driven by the same iron opacity changes, but in less massive stars and with longer periods. History of observations American astronomer Edwin Brant Frost discovered the variation in radial velocity of Beta Cephei in 1902, initially concluding it was a spectroscopic binary. Paul Guthnick