8 Leonis Minoris

8 Leonis Minoris (8 LMi) is a solitary, red hued star located in the northern constellation Leo Minor. It has an apparent magnitude 5.37, making it faintly visible to the naked eye. Based on parallax measurements from the Gaia satellite, the object is estimated to be 492 light years distant. It is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of $$. At its current distance, 8 LMi is diminshed by 0.12 magnitudes due to interstellar dust.

This is an asymptotic giant branch star with stellar classification of M1 IIIab. It has 1.59 times the mass of the Sun but has expanded to 48.5 times its girth. It radiates 417 times the luminosity of the Sun from its enlarged photosphere at an effective temperature of $$. 8 LMi has an iron abundance only half of the Sun's, making it metal deficient.

8 LMi's variability was first observed to be variable in 1930 by Joel Stebbins. However, Eggen (1967) instead lists it as an ordinary M-type giant and used the object for comparison. In 1978-9, 8 LMi was again listed as a variable star but did not provide further insight. As of 2017, the star has not been confirmed to be variable.