It has the traditional star name Kae Uh, from the Chinese 蓋屋 (Mandarin pronunciation Gài Wū).[13] In Chinese astronomy, 蓋屋 is the rooftop, an asterism consisting of ο Aquarii and 32 Aquarii.[14] Consequently, the Chinese name for ο Aquarii itself is 蓋屋一 (Gài Wū yī, English: the First Star of Roofing.)[15]
The spectrum of Omicron Aquarii fits a stellar classification of B7 IVe;[3] the luminosity class of IV suggests that this is a subgiant star that is exhausting the supply of hydrogen at its core and is in the process of evolving into a giant star. The 'e' suffix on the class indicates that the spectrum shows emission lines of hydrogen, thus categorizing this as a Be star. It is rotating rapidly with an equatorial rotational velocity of 368 km/s, which is ~96% of the star's critical rotation velocity of 391 km/s.[7] The emission lines are being generated by a decreted circumstellar disk of hot hydrogen gas.[10] This disk has been globally stable for at least twenty years, as of 2020.[7] It is likely a single star, with no stellar companions.[17]
^ abWielen, R.; et al. (1999), "Sixth Catalogue of Fundamental Stars (FK6). Part I. Basic fundamental stars with direct solutions", Veroeffentlichungen des Astronomischen Rechen-Instituts Heidelberg, 35 (35), Astronomisches Rechen-Institut Heidelberg: 1, Bibcode:1999VeARI..35....1W.
^ abMeilland, A.; Millour, F.; Kanaan, S.; Stee, Ph.; Petrov, R.; Hofmann, K.-H.; Natta, A.; Perraut, K. (February 2012), "First spectro-interferometric survey of Be stars. I. Observations and constraints on the disk geometry and kinematics", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 538: A110, arXiv:1111.2487, Bibcode:2012A&A...538A.110M, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201117955, S2CID64777633.