Deep MMT Transit Survey of the Open Cluster M37 I: Observations and Cluster Parameters

We have conducted a deep ($15 \la r \la 23$), 20 night survey for transiting planets in the intermediate age open cluster M37 (NGC 2099) using the Megacam wide-field mosaic CCD camera on the 6.5m Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT). In this paper we describe the observations and data reduction procedures for the survey and analyze the stellar content and dynamical state of the cluster. By combining high resolution spectroscopy with existing $BVI_{C}K_{S}$ and new $gri$ color magnitude diagrams we determine the fundamental cluster parameters: $t = 485 \pm 28$ Myr without overshooting ($t = 550 \pm 30 {\rm Myr}$ with overshooting), $E(B-V) = 0.227 \pm 0.038$, $(m-M)_{V} = 11.57 \pm 0.13$ and $[M/H] = +0.045 \pm 0.044$ which are in good agreement with, though more precise than, previous measurements. We determine the mass function down to $0.3 M_{\odot}$ and use this to estimate the total cluster mass of $3640 \pm 170 M_{\odot}$.