[17] Consequently, β Canis Minoris itself is known as 南河二 (Nán Hé èr, English: the Second Star of South River).

It has an apparent visual magnitude of 2.89,[4] making it easily visible to the naked eye.

[3] A luminosity class V star belongs on the main sequence, which means it is generating energy through the thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen at its core.

[21] While it shows little variation in brightness, it does display changes in the hydrogen emission coming from the gaseous disk but even those are less pronounced than in many other Be stars.

[22] Examination with the Canadian MOST space telescope reveals changes in the brightness of β Canis Minoris at the milli-magnitude level.

The nature of the companion is unknown, but it is speculated that it could be a subdwarf O star remaining after binary interactions that spun up the Be primary.