Thespectrumof this star matches astellar classificationof B5 III,[3]which indicates it is agiant starthat hasevolvedaway from themain sequenceafter exhausting the hydrogen at its core. It has about seven times theSun's massand has an estimated age of 6.8 million years.[5]Theeffective temperatureof the outer envelope is 14,890 K,[3]with the energy being emitted at this temperature giving it the blue-white hue that is a characteristic of a B-type star.[10]It is rotating rapidly with aprojected rotational velocityof 190 km s−1,which gives a lower bound for the actualazimuthalvelocity along the star's equator.[8]
This is most probably abinary starand may be a triple star system. It has an optical companion with an apparent magnitude of +6.17 at an angular separation of 0.330arcsecondsand aposition angleof 221°,[11]but it is uncertain whether this is anoptical doublestar or a gravitationally bound companion. The star has also been categorized as aspectroscopic binary,indicating that it has an orbiting companion that has not been separately resolved with a telescope. Finally, this star may be a member of theMelotte 20open cluster,which would make it the second-brightest member afterMirfak.[12]
^abcdJohnson, H. L.; et al. (1966), "UBVRIJKL photometry of the bright stars",Communications of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory,4(99): 99,Bibcode:1966CoLPL...4...99J
^Evans, D. S. (June 20–24, 1966), "The Revision of the General Catalogue of Radial Velocities", in Batten, Alan Henry; Heard, John Frederick (eds.),Determination of Radial Velocities and their Applications, Proceedings from IAU Symposium no. 30,vol. 30, University of Toronto:International Astronomical Union,p. 57,Bibcode:1967IAUS...30...57E
^abUnderhill, A. B.; et al. (November 1979), "Effective temperatures, angular diameters, distances and linear radii for 160 O and B stars",Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,189(3): 601–605,Bibcode:1979MNRAS.189..601U,doi:10.1093/mnras/189.3.601
^Fabricius, C.; Makarov, V. V. (April 2000), "Two-colour photometry for 9473 components of close Hipparcos double and multiple stars",Astronomy and Astrophysics,356:141–145,Bibcode:2000A&A...356..141F
^van Buren, Dave; McCray, Richard (June 1988), "Bow shocks and bubbles are seen around hot stars by IRAS",Astrophysical Journal Letters,329:L93–L96,Bibcode:1988ApJ...329L..93V,doi:10.1086/185184
^van Buren, Dave; Noriega-Crespo, Alberto; Dgani, Ruth (December 1995), "An IRAS/ISSA Survey of Bow Shocks Around Runaway Stars",Astronomical Journal,110:2914,Bibcode:1995AJ....110.2914V,doi:10.1086/117739
