  We present simultaneous optical and near-infrared high angular resolution
observations of the close Herbig Ae/Be binary star NX Pup which is associated
with cometary globule~1. The reconstructed images have a diffraction--limited
resolution of 62 mas in V, 75 mas in R (speckle masking reconstruction), and
115 mas in H, 156 mas in K (adaptive optics + post--processing). Compared to
previous results we were able to derive better estimates on spectral type and
luminosity and hence put better constraints on the evolutionary status (mass &
age) of NX Pup A and B: with NX Pup A of spectral type F0-F2 we estimate the
spectral type of NX Pup B in the range F7-G4, masses of 2 M$_\odot$ and
1.6--1.9 M$_\odot$, respectively, and an age of 3--5~Myr for both stars. We
discuss the implication of the new age determination on the physical relation
between NX Pup and the cometary globule. The dynamical lifetime of $\approx$
10$^6$ yr for cometary globule 1 suggests that cometary globule 1 and the
nearby cometary globule 2 represent transient phenomena and are left overs of a
larger molecular cloud which in turn was the parental cloud of NX~Pup A and B
and finally got dispersed by photoevaporation. The IR excess of NX Pup A can be
modeled by a viscous accretion disk, which is cut off at $\approx$ 20 AU from
the star. NX Pup B has a smaller IR excess which indicates that there is less
circumstellar material present than around the primary.
