Tau<sup>2</sup> Aquarii is a solitary star in the equatorial constellation of Aquarius. Its name is a Bayer designation that is Latinized from ÃÂ<sup>2</sup> Aquarii, and abbreviated Tau<sup>2</sup> Aqr or ÃÂ<sup>2</sup> Aqr. This star is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of +4.0. Because the star lies near the ecliptic it is subject to occultations by the Moon. The star is located at a distance of approximately from the Sun based on parallax. It is drifting further away with a radial velocity of about +1.1 km/s.
This is an orange-hued red giant star with a stellar classification of K5 III. After exhausting the supply of hydrogen at its core, the aging star cooled and expanded off the main sequence. It now has 52 times the radius of the Sun and is radiating 614 times the Sun's luminosity from its enlarged photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,007 K. This is a suspected variable star with a brightness that has been measured ranging from visual magnitude 3.98 down to 4.04.
A magnitude 9.94 visual companion to this star was reported by W. Herschel in 1782, and it has the modern discovery code . As of 2010, it was located at a wide angular separation of from the brighter star along a position angle of 297ð.