HD 50281

HD 50281 is a star in the equatorial constellation of Monoceros. It is orange in hue with an apparent visual magnitude of 6.58, which lies at or below the typical limit of visibility to the naked eye. The star is located at a distance of 28.5 light years from the Sun based on parallax, but is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −7.2 km/s.

This object is an ordinary K-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of K3.5 V. It is nearly two billion years old and is spinning with a projected rotational velocity of 5.5 km/s. The metallicity of this star – what astronomers term the abundance of elements with atomic numbers greater than helium – is near solar. The star has 79% of the mass of the Sun and 73% of the Sun's radius. It is radiating 22.5% of the luminosity of the Sun from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,712 K.

A magnitude 10.16 common proper motion companion, designated component B, is located at an angular separation of $1.071$ along a position angle of 181° from the primary, as of 2015. This is a suspected binary star system with components of individual visual magnitude 10.6 and 11.1, and a class of M2.5 V. The coordinates of this companion are a source of X-ray emission. A third companion, magnitude 14.04 component C, lies at a separation of $−7.20$ from component B.