With an apparent visual magnitude of +3.14,[2] it can be viewed with the naked eye on a dark night.

[1] This is a spectroscopic binary system where the presence of an orbiting companion is revealed by shifts in the absorption lines caused by the Doppler effect.

An effective temperature of 19,800 K[3] in the outer envelope is what gives it the blue-white hue of a B-type star.

[11] The primary is a candidate Beta Cephei variable that shows line-profile variations in its spectrum.

[13] Consequently, the Chinese name for κ Centauri itself is 騎官三 (Qí Guān sān, English: the Third Star of Imperial Guards.).