We present UBV CCD photometry and low-resolution spectra of stars in the field of the young open cluster NGC 146 .
UBV photometry of 434 stars were used to estimate the E ( B - V ) reddening of 0.55 \pm 0.04 mag and BV photometry of 976 stars were used to estimate a distance modulus of ( m - M ) _ { 0 } = 12.7 \pm 0.2 mag , corresponding to a distance of 3470 ^ { +335 } _ { -305 } pc .
We estimated 10 – 16 Myr as the turn-off age for the upper main sequence of the cluster using isochrones and synthetic colour magnitude diagrams .
We identified two B type stars with H _ { \alpha } in emission and located on the MS using slit-less spectra .
A higher resolution spectrum of the brighter Be star indicated the presence of a number of emission lines , with some lines showing the signature of gas infall .
This star was found to be located in the region of Herbig Ae/Be stars in the ( J - H ) vs ( H - K ) colour-colour diagram .
Thus , we identify this star as a Herbig Be star .
On the other hand , 54 stars were found to show near infrared excess , of which 17 were found to be located in the region of Herbig Ae/Be stars and 18 stars were found to be located in the region of Be stars in the NIR colour-colour diagram .
Thus NGC 146 is a young cluster with a large number of intermediate mass pre-main sequence stars .
The turn-on age of the cluster is found to be \sim 3 Myr .
Though NGC 146 shows an older turn off , the bulk of stars in this cluster seems to belong to the younger population of 3 Myr .