  We have made use of archival HST BVIJH photometry to constrain the nature of
the three discrete sources, A1, A2 and B1, identified in the double nucleus of
NGC 6240. STARBURST99 models have been fitted to the observed colours, under
the assumption, first, that these sources can be treated as star clusters (i.e.
single, instantaneous episodes of star formation), and subsequently as
star-forming regions (i.e. characterised by continuous star formation). For
both scenarios, we estimate ages as young as 4 million years, integrated masses
ranging between 7x10^6 Msun (B1) and 10^9 Msun (A1) and a rate of 1 supernova
per year, which, together with the stellar winds, sustains a galactic wind of
44 Msun/yr. In the case of continuous star formation, a star-formation rate has
been derived for A1 as high as 270 Msun/yr, similar to what is observed for
warm Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs) with a double nucleus. The A1
source is characterised by a mass density of about 1200 Msun/pc^3 which
resembles the CO molecular mass density measured in cold ULIRGs and the stellar
density determined in ``elliptical core'' galaxies. This, together with the
recent discovery of a supermassive binary black hole in the double nucleus of
NGC 6240, might indicate that the ongoing merger could shape the galaxy into a
core elliptical.
