UBV I CCD photometry of NGC 2353 is performed as a part of the "Sejong Open cluster Survey" (SOS). Using photometric membership criteria we select probable members of the cluster. We derive the reddening and distance to the cluster, i.e., E(B - V ) = 0.10 ± 0.02 mag and 1.17 ± 0.04 kpc, respectively. We find that the projected distribution of the probable members on the sky is elliptical in shape rather than circular. The age of the cluster is estimated to be log(age)=8.1 ± 0.1 in years, older than what was found in previous studies. The minimum value of binary fraction is estimated to be about 48 ± 5 percent from a Gaussian function fit to the distribution of the distance moduli of the photometric members. Finally, we also obtain the luminosity function and the initial mass function (IMF) of the probable cluster members. The slope of the IMF is Γ = -1.3 ± 0.2.

Observation of standard stars is of crucial importance in stellar photometry. We have studied the standard transformation relations of the UBV RI CCD photometric system at the Maidanak Astronomical Observatory in Uzbekistan. All observations were made with the AZT-22 1.5m telescope, SITe 2k CCD or Fairchild 486 CCD, and standard Bessell UBV RI filters from 2003 August to 2007 September. We observed many standard stars around the celestial equator observed by SAAO astronomers. The atmospheric extinction coefficients, photometric zero points, and time variation of photometric zero points of each night were determined. Secondary extinction coefficients and photometric zero points were very stable, while primary extinction coefficients showed a distinct seasonal variation. We also determined the transformation coefficients for each filter. For B, V , R, and I filters, the transformation to the SAAO standard system could be achieved with a straight line or a combination of two straight lines. However, in the case of the U filter and Fairchild 486 CCD combination, a significant non-linear correction term - related to the size of Balmer jump or the strength of the Balmer lines - of up to 0:08 mags was required. We found that our data matched well the SAAO photometry in V , B - V , V - I, and R - I. But in U - B, the difference in zero point was about 3:6 mmag and the scatter was about 0:02 mag. We attribute the relatively large scatter in U -B to the larger error in U of the SAAO photometry. We confirm the mostly small differences between the SAAO standard UBV RI system and the Landolt standard system. We also attempted to interpret the seasonal variation of the atmospheric extinction coefficients in the context of scattering sources in the earth’s atmosphere.

Understanding of the basic characteristics of an astronomical instrument is a prerequisite to obtaining reliable data from the instrument. We have analyzed more than 1,000 calibration images from the Fairchild 486 CCD (hereafter the Maidanak 4k CCD system) attached to the AZT-22 1.5m telescope at Maidanak Astronomical Observatory in Uzbekistan. The Maidanak 4k CCD system supports three readout modes through 1, 2, or 4 amplifiers. In most cases observers use 4-amplifier readout mode to save time. We have tested the stability and seasonal variation of zero levels and confirm that two quadrants of the images (Amp 1 & 2) show no appreciable seasonal variation. but the other two quadrants (Amp 3 & Amp 4) show an evident seasonal variation in the bias level. The Cryo Tiger, the cooling system used at the Maidanak 4k CCD system, maintains the CCD temperature at -108'E, and effectively suppresses the dark electrons. The mean value versus the variance plot of the flat images does not show the expected relation for an ideal Poisson noise distribution and this is attributed to the large variation in quantum efficiency between different pixels. In addition, we confirm that there is no appreciable difference in gain between readout amplifiers, but there is a large variation in quantum efficiency across CCD chip especially in U. Due to the finite length of shutter opening and closing time, the effective exposure time varies across the science images. We introduce two parameters to quantify the effect of this uneven illumination and present a method to remove these effects. We also present a method to remove the interference patterns appearing in the images obtained with longer wavelength filters and investigate the spatial variation of the point spread function.