Its brightest star is Tau Canis Majoris, and therefore it is sometimes called the Tau Canis Majoris Cluster. NGC 2362 has a distance of 1.48 kpc and is a relatively young 4–5 million years in age. It is a massive open cluster, with more than 500 solar masses.[4] The cluster is in relation with the giant nebula Sh2-310, that lies at the same distance.[2]