Metal-rich RRc stars in the Carnegie RR Lyrae Survey

We find iron metallicities that extend from [Fe/H]~-2.5 to values at least as large as [Fe/H]~-0.5 in the 274-spectrum CARRS RRc data set. We consider RRc sample contamination by high amplitude solar metallicity {delta} Scuti stars (HADS) at periods less than 0.3 days, where photometric discrimination between RRc and {delta} Scuti stars has proven to be problematic.

We offer a spectroscopic discriminant, the well-marked overabundance of heavy elements, principally [Ba/H], that is a common, if not universal, characteristic of HADS of all periods and axial rotations. No bona fide RRc stars known to us have verified heavy-element overabundances. Three out of 34 stars in our sample with [Fe/H]>-0.7 exhibit anomalously strong features of Sr, Y, Zr, Ba, and many rare earths.