INVESTIGATION ON THE REGION OF THE OPEN CLUSTER TR-14

We present UBVRI CCD imaging photometry down to approximately V = 19 m ag in the area of the very young open cluster Tr 14. Our results confi rm the existence of an anomalous extinction law in the area if it is i nterpreted in terms of the UBVRI photometry. According to our analysis the cluster distance is d = 3100 pc (V-0 - M(V) = 12.50 mag) and its age is 1.5 1.5 10(6) y. We want to draw the attention on stars which, from the observed magnitude-spread at constant color, could be stars i n an early stage of evolution. In that case, the observed spread leads to assume that the process of star formation in Tr 14 is continuous w hereas, from pre-main sequence evolutionary tracks, a duration of abou t 5 10(6) y is deduced for it. The computation of the cluster initial mass function reveals a fiat slope even though it still compares to a Salpeter law. At the same time, we found a spatial variation of the cl uster IMF, which could be explained by mass segregation in the star fo rmation process. The cluster youth and its compact appearance seem to confirm that it is far from virial equilibrium. The observed total clu ster mass is around 2000 M. and its core contains about 40% of the tot al.