When viewed through a moderate telescope, two components—a brighter blue-white star of magnitude 3.9 and a fainter star of magnitude 6.1 that has been described as lilac as well as blue-white—can be seen.[14] The pair have an angular separation of 2.6″ and an estimated period of 429 years.[12] The fainter component is itself a close binary which can only be resolved using speckle interferometry. The two were separated by 0.06″ in 1993[15] and 0.237″ in 2008,[16] and have an estimated orbital period of 2.1 years.[12] A further faint star, component E 100″ away, is a proper-motion companion.[17][18] Two other faint companions listed in multiple star catalogues as components C and D are unrelated background objects.[19][20]
38 Lyncis was given as a standard star for the spectral class of A3 V when the Morgan-Keenan classification system was first defined in 1943, apparently for the two components combined.[21]
The primary star, component A, is a class A main sequence star around twice the mass of the sun. An effective temperature of 8,862 K and a radius of 3.09 R☉ mean that it is over thirty times more luminous than the sun. It has been listed as a λ Boötis star, although it is no longer considered to be a member.[6] The fainter of the pair, component B, has been given a spectral class of A4V, although it consists of two very close stars. Their properties are poorly-known, even the difference in their apparent magnitudes can only be estimated to be approximately 2. Based on this, their masses are estimated to be 1.3 M☉ and 0.9 M☉ respectively.[12] Component E is a 15th magnitude star with an approximate spectral type of M2, a red dwarf, and an estimated mass of 0.31 M☉,[12] and a temperature of 3,816 K.[18]
From the Star-Registration registry, this star was named: Isabelle Deslaurier.
^Cowley, A.; et al. (April 1969). "A study of the bright A stars. I. A catalogue of spectral classifications". Astronomical Journal. 74: 375–406. Bibcode:1969AJ.....74..375C. doi:10.1086/110819.
^Palmer, D. R.; et al. (1968). "The radial velocities spectral types and projected rotational velocities of 633 bright northern A stars". Royal Observatory Bulletin. 135: 385. Bibcode:1968RGOB..135..385P.
^ abcdDavid, Trevor J.; Hillenbrand, Lynne A. (2015). "The Ages of Early-Type Stars: Strömgren Photometric Methods Calibrated, Validated, Tested, and Applied to Hosts and Prospective Hosts of Directly Imaged Exoplanets". The Astrophysical Journal. 804 (2): 146. arXiv:1501.03154. Bibcode:2015ApJ...804..146D. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/804/2/146. S2CID33401607.
^ abTakeda, Yoichi; Kang, Dong-Il; Han, Inwoo; Lee, Byeong-Cheol; Kim, Kang-Min (2009). "Can Sodium Abundances of A-Type Stars be Reliably Determined from Na I 5890/5896 Lines?". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 61 (5): 1165–1178. arXiv:0907.1329. Bibcode:2009PASJ...61.1165T. doi:10.1093/pasj/61.5.1165. S2CID15454888.
^McAlister, Harold A.; Mason, Brian D.; Hartkopf, William I.; Shara, Michael M. (1993). "ICCD speckle observations of binary stars. X - A further survey for duplicity among the bright stars". The Astronomical Journal. 106: 1639. Bibcode:1993AJ....106.1639M. doi:10.1086/116753.
^Dommanget, J.; Nys, O. (1995). "Catalogue of the components of double and multiple stars (CCDM)- First edition, June 1994". Bulletin d'Information du Centre de Données Stellaires. 46: 3. Bibcode:1995BICDS..46....3D.
^Morgan, William Wilson; Keenan, Philip Childs; Kellman, Edith (1943). "An atlas of stellar spectra, with an outline of spectral classification". Chicago. Bibcode:1943assw.book.....M.