Chi Aurigae is a binary star system in the northern constellation of Auriga. Its name is a Bayer designation that is Latinized from χ Aurigae, and abbreviated Chi Aur or χ Aur. This star is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.74.[ The brightness of the star is diminished by 1.26 in magnitude from extinction caused by intervening gas and dust.][ It is a member of the Aur OB1 association of co-moving stars.][
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Chi Aurigae is a single-lined spectroscopic binary with an orbital period of 676.85 d and an eccentricity of 0.116.[ The primary component of this system is a supergiant star with a stellar classification of B5 Iab.][ It is over 190,000 times more luminous, around 20 times more massive and around 70 times larger than the Sun. The photosphere has an effective temperature of 14,600 Kelvin.][ Its stellar wind is causing mass loss at the rate of per year, or the equivalent of the Sun's mass every 2.4 billion years.][
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The distance of Chi Aurigae is determined at 3,900 based on spectroscopic observations.[ Stellar Parallax measurements by the Hipparcos spacecraft were unsuccessful because the parallax error was bigger than the value itself,][ while the Gaia spacecraft measured the parallax with a 22% error, giving a distance of .][
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[ Note: see VizieR catalogue I/311.]
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