Having already reported on the first photometric study of the intermediate-age open cluster NGCÂ 1883 ( Carraro et al .
2003 ) , we present in this paper the first spectroscopic multi-epoch investigation of a sample of evolved stars in the same cluster .
The aim is to derive the cluster membership , velocity and metallicity , and discuss recent claims in the literature ( Tadross 2005 ) that NGCÂ 1883 is as metal poor as globular clusters in the Halo .
Besides , being one of the few outer Galactic disk intermediate-age open clusters known so far , it is an ideal target to improve our knowledge of the Galactic disk radial abundance gradient , that is a basic ingredient for any chemical evolution model of the Milky Way .
The new data we obtained allow us to put NGC 1883 ’ s basic parameters more reliable .
We find that the cluster has a mean metallicity of [ Fe/H ] = -0.20 \pm 0.22 , from which we infer an age ( 650 ^ { +70 } _ { -70 } Myr ) close to the Hyades one and a Galactocentric distance of 12.3 ^ { +0.4 } _ { -0.2 } kpc .
The metal abundance , kinematics , and position make NGC 1883 a genuine outer disk intermediate-age open cluster .
We confirm that in the outer Galactic disk the abundance gradient is shallower than in the solar vicinity .