Deep and extensive CCD photometric observations UBV ( RI ) _ { C } H _ { \alpha } were carried out in the area of the open cluster NGC 3293 .
The new data set allows to see the entire cluster sequence down to M _ { V } \approx + 4.5 , revealing that stars with M _ { V } < -2 are evolving off the main sequence ; stars with -2 < M _ { V } < +2 are located on the main sequence and stars with M _ { V } > +2 are placed above it .
According to our analysis , the cluster distance is d = 2750 \pm 250 ~ { } pc ( V _ { 0 } - M _ { V } = 12.2 \pm 0.2 ) and its nuclear age is 8 \pm 1 ~ { } Myr .
NGC 3293 contains an important fraction of pre–main sequence ( PMS ) stars distributed along a parallel band to the ZAMS with masses from 1 to 2.5 \cal M _ { \sun } and a mean contraction age of 10 ~ { } Myr .
This last value does not differ too much from the nuclear age estimate .
Actually , if we take into account the many factors that may affect the PMS star positions onto the colour–magnitude diagram , both ages can be perfectly reconciled .
The star formation rate , on the other hand , suggests that NGC 3293 stars formed surely in one single event , therefore favouring a coeval process of star formation .
Besides , using the H _ { \alpha } data , we detected nineteen stars with signs of having H _ { \alpha } emission in the region of NGC 3293 , giving another indication that the star formation process is still active in the region .
The computed initial mass function for the cluster has a slope value x = 1.2 \pm 0.2 , a bit flatter than the typical slope for field stars and similar to the values found for other young open clusters .