[18] Kappa Velorum is a spectroscopic binary system consisting of a pair of stars that complete an orbit around each other with a period of 116.65 days and an eccentricity of 0.19.

[5] The combined stellar classification of the pair is B2 IV,[2] which matches the class of a B-type subgiant star that has exhausted the hydrogen at its core and begun to evolve into a giant.

[7] The system is only a couple of degrees from the south celestial pole of Mars, so it could therefore be considered the southern polar star of that planet.

[citation needed] Due to precession of the equinoxes, it will be the closest bright star of note to the south celestial pole of Earth in the period surrounding 9000 AD.

[citation needed] Analysis of the spectrum of Kappa Velorum shows absorption lines due to the interstellar medium between Earth and the star.