UBVIc photometry of NGC 4852

The stars inside this region define a young open cluster (200 million years old) 1.1kpc far from the Sun (m-M=11.60, E(B-V)=0.45). The Present Day Mass Functions (PDMF) from the V photometry is one of the most extended in mass obtained to date, and can be represented as a power-law with a slope alpha=2.3+/-0.3 and (the Salpeter MF in this notation has a slope alpha=2.35), in the mass range 3.2<=m/m_{sun}_<=0.6. Below this mass, the MF cannot be considered as representative of the cluster MF, as the cluster merges with the field and therefore the MF is the result of the combined effect of strong irregularities in the stellar background and interaction of the cluster with the dense Galactic field.

The cluster total mass at the limiting magnitude results to be 2570+/-210M_{sun}_.