2017PASP..129j4201T

NGC 457 is a moderately reddened and relatively young open cluster very rich in variable stars, particularly Be stars, but not associated with any prominent star-forming field. We combine new multi-wavelength polarization measurements with existing UBV and uvby photometries to obtain precise estimates of the total-to-selective extinction in the field of the cluster and re-evaluate its distance and age. The polarization measurements show a tight alignment of the polarization vectors with the Galactic plane and yield an average value of the total-to-selective extinction of 3.05 ± 0.17 for the cluster's field. Using this value and the confirmed color excess E(B-V)=0.500±0.030 mag, we obtain a distance modulus of 12.20 ± 0.39, corresponding to 2.75 ± 0.49 kpc and, assuming slightly sub-solar metallicity, an age of 15.8 Myr.