A photometric study of the intermediate age open cluster King 5

We report on near IR (J and K bands) observations of an 8' x 8' region cent ered on the poorly studied open cluster King 5, for which only optical phot ometry existed. Photometry of two nearby fields is also reported. We found that the cluster is of moderate age (1.0 Gyr old), intermediate in age betw een the Hyades and NGC 752. Combining optical and IR photometry we obtain e stimates for the cluster parameters. The color excesses E(J - K), E(V - I) and E(V - K) are 0.50, 1.10 and 2.45, respectively. The true distance modul us turns out to be (m - M)(0) = 11.40 +/- 0.15. As a consequence, King 5 is 1.9 kpc far from the Sun.