Kappa Aquarii is a double star

Double star

In observational astronomy, a double star is a pair of stars that appear close to each other in the sky as seen from Earth when viewed through an optical telescope. This can happen either because the pair forms a binary star, i.e...

 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....

 Aquarius

Aquarius (constellation)

Aquarius is a constellation of the zodiac, situated between Capricornus and Pisces. Its name is Latin for "water-bearer" or "cup-bearer", and its symbol is , a representation of water....

. It has the traditional name Situla, a Latin word meaning "bucket" or "water jar".

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 Temple

Legs (Chinese constellation)

The Legs mansion is one of the Twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the western mansions of the White Tiger.-Asterisms:...

, refers to an asterism consisting of κ Aquarii, 44 Aquarii

44 Aquarii

44 Aquarii is a star in the constellation Aquarius. Its apparent magnitude is 5.75.-References:*...

, 51 Aquarii

51 Aquarii

51 Aquarii is a star in the constellation Aquarius. Its apparent magnitude is 5.79.-References:*...

 and HD 216718

HD 216718

HD 216718 is a double or multiple star.-References:*...

. Consequently, κ Aquarii itself is known as . From this Chinese name, the name Heu Leang was appeared, meaning the Empty Bridge.

The brighter component has a surface temperature of 4550 K

Kelvin

The kelvin is a unit of measurement for temperature. It is one of the seven base units in the International System of Units and is assigned the unit symbol K. The Kelvin scale is an absolute, thermodynamic temperature scale using as its null point absolute zero, the temperature at which all...

 and is classified as an orange K-type

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...

 giant

Giant star

A giant star is a star with substantially larger radius and luminosity than a main sequence star of the same surface temperature. Typically, giant stars have radii between 10 and 100 solar radii and luminosities between 10 and 1,000 times that of the Sun. Stars still more luminous than giants are...

 with a visual magnitude of +5.04. The fainter star is located 98.3 arcseconds away and has an apparent magnitude of +8.8. Situla is 234 light years 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...

.

Namesakes

USS Situla (AK-140)

USS Situla (AK-140)

USS Situla was a Crater-class cargo ship in the service of the United States Navy in World War II. It was the only ship of the Navy to have borne this name...

 was a United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 Crater class cargo ship

Crater class cargo ship

Crater-class cargo ship is a category of freighter that was constructed for use by the United States Navy during World War II under Maritime Commission EC2-S-C1 type....

named after the star.