WASHINGTON CCD PHOTOMETRY OF THE OLD OPEN CLUSTER NGC 1245

We present a study of the metallicity of the old open cluster NGC 1245 , based on the Washington CCD photometry obtained using the 0.6 m telescope at the Sobaeksan Observatory, Korea. NGC 1245 has been known to be a unique cluster among the known open clusters in the sense that the previous metallicity estimates for this cluster are much larger $(by\;\sigma)$ than the value expected from the radial metallicity gradient of the old open clusters in Our galaxy. We have estimated the metallicity of the cluster red giants using the four color-color diagrams, obtaining a value for the mean metallicity of $[Fe/H] = -0.04\pm0.05$ dex. The total error including the error of the metallicity calibration, 0.15 dex, is 0.16 dex. The metallicity estimate of NGC 1245 we have obtained in this study is smaller than previous estimates, and is consistent with the radial metallicity gradient of the old open clusters, showing that the mean metallicity of NGC 1245 is not abnormally high. The reddening, distance, and age of the cluster have also been derived using the isochrones based on the convective overshooting models: the reddening $E(B-V) = 0.28\pm0.03$; the distance $d = 2.5\pm0.2 kpc$ (the corresponding galactocentric distance is RGC = 10.7 kpc, and the distance from the galactic plane is z = -0.4 kpc); and the age $t = 1.1\pm0.1 Gyrs$.