With the stars ν and φ Centauri, it marks what has been traditionally portrayed as "dextro Latere" (the right side) of the Centaur.

The distance to this star can be estimated directly using parallax measurements, which yield a value of roughly 510 light years (155 parsecs) from Earth.

Mu Centauri is a pulsating variable star that has multiple non-radial cycles with a primary period of 0.503 days.

[13] Mu Centauri is classified as a Gamma Cassiopeiae type variable star and its brightness varies from magnitude +2.92 to +3.49.

Because of the oblate spheroidal shape of this star, the polar region is at a higher temperature than the equator—23,000 K versus 17,600 K respectively.