Thomas Espin noted the possible variability of this star in 1895.[8]Williamina Fleming, in 1906, was examining photographic plates taken for the purpose of creating the Henry Draper Catalogue when she independently discovered and confirmed it as a variable star.[9]
The spectrum of SU Andromedae is dominated by Swan bands from the molecule C2. These stars were classified as type N under the Harvard scheme, stars with the blue continuum completely obscured by molecular absorption bands. Carbon star spectral types were later refined in the Morgan-Keenan system and SU Andromedae was typically classified as C64,[10] indicating a fairly cool carbon star and the subscript 4 showing modest Swan band intensity.[11]
Under the modern revised Morgan-Keenan system, SU Andromedae is classified as C-N5 C26-.[12] The C-N spectral type is to distinguish those stars from the C-R type where the blue continuum is not entirely hidden by absorption bands. A classification based on the infrared spectrum is C5 II, again a moderately cool carbon star with a luminosity class of II for a bright giant.[3]
SU Andromedae is 22" from a magnitude 12.77 star, probably an F0 main sequence star. This star has a Gaia Data Release 2 parallax of 0.7479±0.0905[6] and an absolute magnitude of about +2.4. It has an almost identical space motion as SU Andromedae and is assumed to be a distant co-moving companion. Based on that assumption, the absolute magnitude of SU Andromedae is calculated to be about −2.2.[4]
^ abcdN. N. Samus; O. V. Durlevich; et al. "SU And database entry". Combined General Catalog of Variable Stars (GCVS4.2, 2004 Ed.). CDS. Retrieved 2018-10-14.
^Pickering, E. C.; Fleming, W. P. (1906). "Stars having peculiar spectra. Thirteen new variable stars". Astrophysical Journal. 23: 257–261. Bibcode:1906ApJ....23..257P. doi:10.1086/141337.
^Barnbaum, Cecilia; Stone, Remington P. S.; Keenan, Philip C. (1996). "A Moderate-Resolution Spectral Atlas of Carbon Stars: R, J, N, CH, and Barium Stars". Astrophysical Journal Supplement. 105: 419–473. Bibcode:1996ApJS..105..419B. doi:10.1086/192323.