The mass of this star is about 6.0 to 6.5 times the mass of the Sun, but it is emitting roughly 2,300 times the Sun's luminosity implying a radius that is 48 times that of the Sun. It has an estimated age of 60 million years; old enough for a star of this mass to evolve into a supergiant. The estimated effective temperature of the star's outer envelope is about 5,700 K, giving it the characteristic yellow hue of G-type stars. X-ray emissions from the corona of this star have been detected using the Chandra X-ray Observatory; among the first such detections of X-rays for a G-type supergiant. A secondary X-ray source discovered near Beta Aquarii probably has an extragalactic origin. This star belongs to a group of three intermediate mass stars with a space velocity that is carrying them perpendicular to the plane of the galaxy. The other members of this grouping are Alpha Aquarii and Eta Pegasi.  β Aquarii appears to be a single star to the naked eye, but when viewed with a telescope is seen to have two faint optical companions. The first has an apparent magnitude of 11.0. In 1947, the position angle was observed at 321 degrees with a separation from the Beta Aquarii of 35.4 arcseconds. The second star has a magnitude of 11.6. Its position angle is 186 degrees with a separation from Beta Aquarii of 57.2 arcseconds. As of 2008, there is no definitive evidence that the three stars form a ternary star system, and Gaia Data Release 2 shows the two companions to be around twice the distance of β Aquarii. All three stars have very different proper motions. In the context of older worldviews (i.e. Egyptian, Persian and Islamic mythology), Sadalsuud relates to the rising of the Sun when winter has passed (March) and the season of gentle, continuous rain has begun. Hence the myth of ""luck"" or ""good fortune"" was seen as closely aligned with the essence of spring itself, the burgeoning of new life, and by extension agriculture, which in all societies is the very foundation of prosperity or ""good fortune"". This mythological view of ""the luck of the lucks"" also belongs to the 22d Manzil (Arabic Lunar Mansion), which included the two stars Xi Aquarii (Bunda) and 46 Capricorni.  β and ξ Aquarii also constitute the Persian lunar mansion Bunda and the similar Coptic mansion Upuineuti, the meaning of which is ""the Foundation"".