  We present a multiwavelength analysis of the young open cluster NGC 2362.
UBVRcIc CCD photometric observations, together with available data in the
Chandra data base, near infrared data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey
(2MASS), and recently published Halpha spectroscopy were used to get
information about the evolutionary stage of the cluster and the main physical
properties of its stellar content. Cluster membership is estimated for every
individual star by means of ZAMS and isochrone fitting. The cluster is
confirmed to host a richly populated pre-main sequence (PMS), and to contain a
large amount of X-ray emitting stars, which reach from the PMS members of GK
spectral type, up to the most luminous OB type main sequence (MS) members. The
PMS cluster members show no significant age spread, and the comparison to both
PMS and post-MS isochrones suggests a younger age for the more massive MS than
for lower mass PMS members. The analysis allows to asses the validity of
currently used pre-main sequence evolutionary models, and supports the
suggestion of a well defined positive correlation of the X-ray emission from
PMS stars with their bolometric luminosity. Clear differences are found on the
other hand, between the X-ray activity properties of MS and PMS cluster
members, both in the relation between X-ray luminosity and bolometric
luminosity, and in spectral properties as well.
