IC 361, a distant intermediate-age cluster in Camelopardalis†

We have undertaken CCD photometry in the eight-color Vilnius + I system for the open cluster IC 361 (l = 147.5°, b = 5.7°) located in the constellation of Camelopardalis. Based on multicolor data, estimates of distance moduli, foreground reddening and metallicity have been obtained for individual stars measured in the field of the cluster. This allowed us to eliminate most of the field stars and to identify the probable cluster members, from which we derived the true distance modulus (m - M)₀ = 12.7 mag and metallicity [Fe/H] = -0.3 dex. The interstellar extinction is found to be nonuniform across the field, with values of A_V ranging from 1.9 to 2.6 mag. A comparison of the color-magnitude diagrams with Padova isochrones yields (m - M)₀ = 12.6 mag, or a cluster distance of 3.3 kpc, and an age of 1.0 Gyr. Therefore, IC 361 appears to be a mildly metal-deficient cluster of intermediate age, located as far as, or just beyond, the Perseus spiral arm.