Variable Stars in Metal-Rich Globular Clusters. II. NGC 6316

Abstract

We present time-series VI photometry of the metal-rich globular cluster NGC 6316. Our color-magnitude diagrams show a predominantly red-clump horizontal branch morphology with no evidence of the blue extensions seen in NGC 6388 and NGC 6441. Our data are in good agreement with published estimates of the reddening and metallicity provided the cluster has an absolute distance modulus of 15.50 mag. We have discovered more than one dozen long-period variable stars in our field of view, and argue that at least seven of them are members of NGC 6316. We have also discovered four RR Lyrae variables, although only one of them probably belongs to the cluster. The specific frequency of RR Lyrae stars in NGC 6316 is found to be less than 0.4, making it clear that this cluster is a normal, metal-rich globular and is not an analog of NGC 6388 and NGC 6441. We recommend long-term photometric monitoring of NGC 6316 to clarify the nature of the RR Lyrae member candidate as well as the pulsation classes of the long-period variables.