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Photometric study of the star cluster NGC 2155 in the Large Magellanic Cloud: age estimation and variable stars

We present results of new photometry for the globular star cluster NGC 2155 in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Our I- and V-band observations were obtained with the 6.5-meter Magellan 1 Baade Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory resulting in deep photometry down to V ~ 24 mag. By analyzing the color-magnitude diagram for the cluster and utilizing the Victoria-Regina grid of isochrones models we estimated the age of the cluster at ~ 2.25 Gyr and [Fe/H]=-0.71, the numbers which place NGC 2155 outside the age-gap in the age-metallicity relation for LMC clusters. Using the Difference Image Analysis Package (DIAPL), we detected 7 variable stars in the cluster field with variability at the level of 0.01 magnitude in the I-band. Three variables are particularly interesting: two SX Phoenicis (SX Phe) stars pulsating in the fundamental mode, and a detached eclipsing binary which is a prime candidate to estimate the distance to the cluster.