It is approximately 5,000 light years distant from Earth and is the brightest member of the open cluster NGC 2362. τ Canis Majoris lies at the center of the very young open cluster NGC 2362 which contains several hundred stars.

[18] More recently, the Hipparcos satellite data revealed the existence of a 1.282 day eclipsing binary within the system, with two equal minima where the brightness dips by half a magnitude.

[15] UW Canis Majoris is another 4th magnitude star less than half a degree away, and is itself an eclipsing binary system associated with NGC 2362.

[19] τ Canis Majoris appears as a class O supergiant at a distance of 5,000 light years within the open cluster NGC 2362, but this is composed of multiple stars.

The spectrum, mass, and luminosity is dominated by component Aa which is now considered to be an O9 bright giant.