At an apparent magnitude of 1.94, this is the brightest star in Pavo. Based upon
parallax measurements, this star is about distant from the
Earth. It has an estimated six times the
Sun's mass and 6 times the
Sun's radius, but 2,200 times the
luminosity of the Sun. The
effective temperature of the
photosphere is 17,700 K, which gives the star a blue-white hue. It has a
stellar classification of B3 V, although older studies have often given it a
subgiant luminosity class. It is classified as B2.5 IV in the
Bright Star Catalogue. Stars with the mass of Alpha Pavonis are believed not to have a
convection zone near their surface. Hence the material found in the
outer atmosphere is not processed by the
nuclear fusion occurring at the core. This means that the surface abundance of elements should be representative of the material out of which it originally formed. In particular, the surface abundance of
deuterium should not change during the star's main sequence lifetime. The measured ratio of deuterium to hydrogen in this star amounts to less than , which suggests this star may have formed in a region with an unusually low abundance of deuterium, or else the deuterium was consumed by some means. A possible scenario for the latter is that the deuterium was burned through while Alpha Pavonis was a
pre-main-sequence star. The system is likely to be a member of the
Tucana-Horologium association that share a common motion through space. The estimated age of this association is 45 million years. α Pavonis star has a
peculiar velocity of relative to its neighbors. ==Companions==