It has a blue-white hue and is classified as a B-type subgiant with an apparent magnitude of +3.66, making it visible to the naked eye.

[11] Zeta Cassiopeiae is a B2 subgiant, indicating that it has exhausted its core hydrogen and started to evolve away from the main sequence.

Zeta Cassiopeiae is a candidate magnetic Bp star that shows an overabundance of helium.

The star contains a randomly oriented fossil magnetic field, which impacts the outflow of the stellar wind.

Collisions between streams from this stellar wind creates a shock front, with cooling particles settling toward a co-rotating disk.