Abstract:
We have carried out deep (V ~21 mag) UBVRI photometric study of the star cluster Stock 18. These along
with archival Infrared data have been used to derive the basic cluster parameters and also to study the
star formation processes in and around the cluster region. The distance to the cluster is derived as
2.8 ± 0.2 kpc while its age is estimated as 6.0 ± 2.0 Myr. Present study indicates that interstellar reddening
is normal in the direction of the cluster. The mass function slope is found to be -1.37 ± 0.27 for the
mass range 1 < M/M⊙< 11.9. There is no evidence found for the effect of mass segregation in mainsequence
stars of the cluster. A young stellar population with age between 1–2 Myr have been found
in and around the cluster region. The presence of IRAS and AKARI sources with MSX intensity map also
show the youth of the Sh2–170 region.
