Beta Columbae (Beta Col, β Columbae, β Col) is a K-type giant star

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...

 and is the second brightest star 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....

 of Columba

Columba (constellation)

Columba is a small, faint constellation created in the late sixteenth century. Its name is Latin for dove. It is located just south of Canis Major and Lepus.-History:...

. It has the traditional name Wezn (or Wazn), from the Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

 وزن "weight".

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 Son

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 β Columbae and λ Columbae

Lambda Columbae

Lambda Columbae is a blue dwarf star in the constellation Columba. It is approximately 342 light years from Earth. This star, along with ζ CMa, λ CMa, γ Col, δ Col, θ Col, κ Col, μ Col and ξ Col, were Al Ḳurūd , the Apes....

. Consequently, β Columbae itself is known as

Structure

It has an apparent visual magnitude of approximately 3.12, spectral class

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...

 K1IIICN+1, and is approximately 86 ly 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...

. β Columbae is moving at an unusually large speed of 100 km/sec

Second

The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock....

, relative to the Sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

.