[18] Despite its closeness, Gliese 440 is intrinsically faint with just 0.05% the luminosity of the Sun, and can't be viewed to the naked eye with an apparent magnitude of +11.5.

[21] White dwarfs are no longer generating energy at their cores through nuclear fusion, and instead are steadily radiating away their remaining heat.

Gliese 440 has a DQ spectral classification, indicating that it is a rare type of white dwarf which displays evidence of atomic or molecular carbon in its spectrum.

The bending of starlight by the gravitational field of Gliese 440 was observed by the Hubble Space Telescope, allowing its mass to be directly measured at 0.56±0.08 M☉.

[23] Most of the star's original mass was shed after it passed into the asymptotic giant branch stage, just prior to becoming a white dwarf.