With an apparent visual magnitude of 4.86,[3] it is faintly visible to the naked eye.

The measured annual parallax shift of 9.75 mas[2] yields an estimated distance of roughly 335 light years.

Lambda Columbae has a stellar classification of B5 V,[4] indicating that it is a B-type main sequence star.

It is a suspected rotating ellipsoidal variable[14] with a period of 0.64 days and an amplitude of 0.07 magnitude.

[16] Consequently, λ Columbae itself is known as 子一 (Zǐ yī, English: the First Star of Son.).