UBVRI photometry and spectroscopy of the young open cluster Haffner 18

UBVRI CCD photometry of a $2.^{\prime}1 \times 3.^{\prime}3$ field centered on the young open cluster Haffner~18 is presented and discussed. Spectroscopic classification of seven stars is also provided. 44 clusters members are identified, the earliest type being O6. The distance to the cluster is found to be 6.3 kpc, corresponding to a galactocentric distance of 12.7 kpc (for a Sun galactocentric distance of 8.5 kpc). Excellent fit to the observed main sequence is achieved by a solar composition isochrone of 2$\times 10^6$ years reddened by E$_{B-V}$=0.62 mag. Differential reddening of intra-cluster origin is present. Pre-main sequence members are likely to be present over the 6 mag range explored by our observations (reaching down to earliest A spectral types). The presence of differential reddening and pre-main sequence members agrees with the evidence for a bright parent nebulosity embedding the whole cluster. The radial velocity of the cluster is consistent with the Hron (1987) model of galactic rotation.