Abstract We present the first CCD photometric observations of open cluster NGC 744, as part of the 50BiN Open Cluster Survey. The color-magnitude diagrams of this cluster were derived from absolute BV RI photometry on a good photometric night. A brief isochrone fitting gives a distance modulus of (m−M )V = 11.58±0.2 and a reddening of E(B−V) = 0.35±0.05 with an age of log t = 8.30±0.05. By carefully examining the BV time-series data, we discovered four new variable stars in a 20′ × 20′ field around the cluster. We classified them as three eclipsing binary stars and one δ Scuti pulsating star, mainly based on the light-curve shape, the detected periods and the positions on the color-magnitude diagrams.
Keywords open clusters and associations: individual (NGC 744) — stars: variables: general
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