a group of pulsating stars on the instability strip have periods of less than 2 days, similar to rr lyrae variables but with higher luminosities. anomalous cepheid variables have masses higher than type ii cepheids, rr lyrae variables, and our sun. it is unclear whether they are young stars on a "turned-back" horizontal branch, blue stragglers formed through mass transfer in binary systems, or a mix of both.