2002A&A...388..172S

We employed J, H and K_s photometry from the 2MASS Catalogue to study the embedded star clusters in the nebulae NGC 2327 and BRC 27 locate in the molecular cloud Canis Majoris R1. We made use of colour-colour and colour-magnitudes diagrams of the sample objects in conjunction with those of the Trapezium cluster which was used as a template, together with theoretical isochrones. The fundamental parameters were derived for the clusters. The distances found for NGC 2327 and BRC 27 were 1.2kpc which are compatible with previous distances for the complex. The estimated ages are based mostly on the number of stars with anomalous colours, supposedly of types Herbig AeBe and TTauri. Both embedded clusters have ages of ≃1.5Myr. The results suggest the birth of a physical pair of star clusters in CMaR1.