LAUSR

We present the first CCD photometric observations of open cluster NGC 744, as part of the 50BiN Open Cluster Survey. The color-magnitude diagrams of this cluster were derived from absolute BV RI photometry on a good photometric night. A brief isochrone fitting gives a distance modulus of (m − M) V = 11.58 ± 0.2 and a reddening of E(B − V) = 0.35 ± 0.05 with an age of log t = 8.30 ± 0.05. By carefully examining the BV time-series data, we discovered four new variable stars in a 20' × 20' field around the cluster. We classified them as three eclipsing binary stars and one δ Scuti pulsating star, mainly based on the light-curve shape, the detected periods and the positions on the color-magnitude diagrams.