The effects of blending on the light curve shape of Cepheids

A short analysis is presented of the effects on the cepheid light curve shape, i.e. on the Fourier parameters usually adopted for its description, of the blending of the stellar image with other close stars. The conclusion is that, within reasonable error, the effects are in general small and the Fourier decomposition is confirmed to be a useful tool for pulsation mode discrimination. A large effect has been found on the phase differences in a narrow period range corresponding to the known resonance centers between pulsation modes.