Photometric and spectroscopic study of the intermediate-age open cluster NGC 2355

In this paper we analyse the evolutionary status and properties of the old open cluster NGC 2355, located in the Galactic anticentre direction, as a part of the long-term programme Bologna Open Clusters Chemical Evolution. NGC 2355 was observed with the Large Binocular Camera at the Large Binocular Telescope using the Bessel B, V, and I c filters. The cluster parameters have been obtained using the synthetic colour–magnitude diagram method, as done in other papers of this series. Additional spectroscopic observations with the Fibre-fed Echelle Spectrograph at the Nordic Optical Telescope of three giant stars were used to determine the chemical properties of the cluster. Our analysis shows that NGC 2355 has metallicity slightly less than solar, with [Fe/H]= −0.06 dex, age between 0.8 and 1 Gyr, reddening E(B − V) in the range 0.14–0.19 mag, and distance modulus (m − M)0 of about 11 mag. We also investigate the abundances of O, Na, Al, α, iron-peak, and neutron capture elements, showing that NGC 2355 falls within the abundance distribution of similar clusters (same age and metallicity). The Galactocentric distance of NGC 2355 places it at the border between two regimes of metallicity distribution; this makes it an important cluster for the study of the chemical properties and evolution of the disc.