An analysis of the most distant catalogued open clusters -- Re-assessing
  fundamental parameters with Gaia EDR3 and $\texttt{ASteCA}$
  Several studies have been presented in the last few years applying some kind
of automatic processing of data to estimate the fundamental parameters of open
clusters. These parameters are later on employed in larger scale analyses, for
example the structure of the Galaxy's spiral arms. The distance is one of the
more straightforward parameters to estimate, yet enormous differences can still
be found among published data. This is particularly true for open clusters
located more than a few kpc away. We cross-matched several published catalogues
and selected the twenty-five most distant open clusters ($>$9000 pc). We then
performed a detailed analysis of their fundamental parameters, with emphasis on
their distances, to determine the agreement between catalogues and our
estimates.} Photometric and astrometric data from the Gaia EDR3 survey was
employed. The data was processed with our own membership analysis code
(pyUPMASK), and our package for automatic fundamental cluster's parameters
estimation ($\texttt{ASteCA}$). We find differences in the estimated distances
of up to several kpc between our results and those catalogued, even for the
catalogues that show the best matches with $\texttt{ASteCA}$ values. Large
differences are also found for the age estimates. As a by-product of the
analysis we find that vd Bergh-Hagen 176 could be the open cluster with the
largest heliocentric distance catalogued to date. Caution is thus strongly
recommended when using catalogued parameters of open clusters to infer
large-scale properties of the Galaxy, particularly for those located more than
a few kpc away.
