The first close-up of the "flip-flop" phenomenon in a single star

We present temperature maps of the active late-type giant FK Com which exhi bit the first imagining record of the "flip-flop" phenomenon in a single st ar. The phenomenon, in which the main part of the spot activity shifts 180 degrees in longitude, discovered a decade ago in FK Com, was reported later also in a number of RS CVn binaries and a single young dwarf. With the sur face images obtained right before and after the "flip-flop", we clearly sho w that the "flip-flop" phenomenon in FK Com is caused by changing the relat ive strengths of the spot groups at the two active longitudes, with no actu al spot movements across the stellar surface, i.e. exactly as it happens in other active stars.