Abstract

We report on a new, wide-field (20 × 20 arcmin2), multicolour (U BV I), photometric campaign in the area of the nearby old open cluster NGC 2112. At the same time, we provide medium-resolution spectroscopy of 35 (and high-resolution of additional 5) red giant and turn-off stars. This material is analysed with the aim to update the fundamental parameters of this traditionally difficult cluster, which is very sparse and suffers from heavy field star contamination. Among the 40 stars with spectra, we identified 21 bona fide radial velocity members which allow us to put more solid constraints on the cluster's metal abundance, long suggested to be as low as the metallicity of globulars. As indicated earlier by us on a purely photometric basis, the cluster [Fe/H] abundance is slightly supersolar ([Fe/H] = 0.16 ± 0.03) and close to the Hyades value, as inferred from a detailed abundance analysis of three of the five stars with higher resolution spectra. Abundance ratios are also marginally supersolar. Based on this result, we revise the properties of NGC 2112 using stellar models from the Padova and Yale-Yonsei groups. For this metal abundance, we find that the cluster's age, reddening and distance values are 1.8 Gyr, 0.60 mag and 940 pc, respectively. Both the Yale-Yonsei and Padova models predict the same values for the fundamental parameters within the errors. Overall, NGC 2112 is a typical solar neighbourhood, thin-disc star cluster, sharing the same chemical properties of F-G stars and open clusters close to the Sun. This investigation outlines the importance of a detailed membership analysis in the study of disc star clusters. © 2008 RAS.