RR Lyrae stars in NGC 6362

Abstract

We present the analysis of the top-quality photometry of RR Lyrae stars in the globular cluster NGC 6362, gathered over 11 observing seasons by the Cluster AgeS Experiment (CASE) project. 16 stars are fundamental mode pulsators (RRab stars) and 16 are first overtone pulsators (RRc stars). In two stars, previously identified as RRab, V3 and V34, we detect additional periodicity identified as radial first overtone mode. Lower than usual period ratios (0.730 and 0.728), dominant pulsation in the radial fundamental mode and presence of a long-period modulation indicate that these two variables are not classical RRd stars, but are new members of the recently identified class of anomalous RRd variables. In a significant fraction of RRc stars, 63 per cent, we detect additional shorter period variability in the (0.60, 0.65)P1 range. This form of double-periodic pulsation must be common in first overtone RR Lyr stars, as space observations indicate. The incidence rate we find in NGC 6362 is the highest in ground-based observations reported so far. We study the properties of these stars in detail; in particular, we confirm that in the colour–magnitude diagram, this group is adjacent to the interface between RRab and RRc stars, as first reported in the analysis of M3 observations by Jurcsik et al. The incidence rate of the Blazhko effect is also very high: we observe it in 69 per cent of RRab stars and in 19 per cent of RRc stars. Rare, double-periodic modulation is reported in one RRab and in one RRc star. Finally, we discuss V37 – a peculiar variable in which we detect two close high-amplitude periodicities and modulation. Its previous classification as RRc must be treated as tentative.