New Variable Stars in NGC 6652 and Its Background Sagittarius Stream ∗

Abstract

We conducted a variable star search on the metal-rich Galactic globular cluster NGC 6652 using archival Gemini-S/Gemini Multiobject Spectrograph data. We report the discovery of nine new variable stars in the NGC 6652 field, of which we classify six as eclipsing binaries and one as an SX Phoenicis star, leaving two variables without classification. Using proper motions from Gaia DR2 and Hubble Space Telescope , albeit with some uncertainties, we find that the cluster, the field, and the background Sagittarius stream each have three of these variables. We also reassess the membership of known variables based on the Gaia proper motions, confirming the existence of one RR Lyrae star in the cluster.