UBVI photometry in NGC 1252

Spectroscopy shows that most of the brightest stars in the studied area are chemically, kinematically and spatially unrelated to each other. However, after analysing proper motions, we find one relevant kinematic group. This sparse object is relatively close (~1kpc), metal poor and is probably not only one of the oldest clusters (3Gyr) within 1.5kpc from the Sun but also one of the clusters located farthest from the disc, at an altitude of nearly -900pc.

That makes NGC 1252 the first open cluster that can be truly considered a high Galactic altitude OCR: an unusual object that may hint at a star formation event induced on a high Galactic altitude gas cloud. We also conclude that the variable TW Horologii and the blue straggler candidate HD 20286 are unlikely to be part of NGC 1252. NGC 1252 17 is identified as an unrelated, Population II cannonball star moving at about 400km/s.