Iota Geminorum is a Class G9

Stellar classification

In astronomy, stellar classification is a classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. The spectral class of a star is a designated class of a star describing the ionization of its chromosphere, what atomic excitations are most prominent in the light, giving an objective measure...

, fourth-magnitude star

Star

A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

 in the constellation

Constellation

In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....

 Gemini

Gemini (constellation)

Gemini is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It was one of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations today. Its name is Latin for "twins", and it is associated with the twins Castor and Pollux in Greek mythology...

. It is called by the proper name Propus, meaning "forefoot" in Latin.

In Chinese

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

, , meaning Five Feudal Kings

Well (Chinese constellation)

The Well mansion is one of the Twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the southern mansions of the Vermilion Bird.-Asterisms:...

, refers to an asterism consisting of ι Geminorum, θ Geminorum

Theta Geminorum

Theta Geminorum is a Class A3, fourth-magnitude star in the constellation Gemini. Theta Geminorum is a binary star with components of magnitudes 3.60 and 5.18, separated by 2.9 arcseconds. This stellar system is located about 200 light-years from Earth....

, τ Geminorum

Tau Geminorum

Tau Geminorum is a star in the Gemini constellation. It is an orange giant of the spectral type K2III, meaning it is probably fusing carbon and oxygen in its core to form iron and nickel. It has the apparent magnitude of 4.40, visible to the naked eye with moderate difficulty. The absolute...

, υ Geminorum and φ Geminorum. Consequently, ι Geminorum itself is known as .

Structure

Iota Geminorum is a variable star located about 325 light-year

Light-year

A light-year, also light year or lightyear is a unit of length, equal to just under 10 trillion kilometres...

s from Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

. It forms an unequal pair with 59 Geminorum (app. mag. 5.77; Class F4III), which is more or less the same distance away.