What is Kappa Andromedae?

Kappa Andromedae, Latinized from κ Andromedae, is the Bayer designation for a bright star in the northern constellation of Andromeda. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.1. Based on the star's ranking on the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale, it is luminous enough to be visible from the suburbs and from urban outskirts, but not from brightly lit inner city regions. Parallax measurements made during the Hipparcos mission place it at a distance of approximately 168 light-years from the Sun. It is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −15 km/s, and there is a high likelihood that it is a member of the Beta Pictoris moving group. The star has one known companion exoplanet, Kappa Andromedae b.