The traditional name Muscida derives from the post classical Latinmusus, meaning "snout, or muzzle [of the bear]". This name was shared with the optical double starPi Ursae Majoris. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included Muscida for this star.
In 1963, East German astronomer Gerhard Jakisch reported this star as a variable with a period of 358 days and an amplitude of 0.08 magnitude. The 1982 edition of the New Catalogue of Suspected Variable Stars listed it with a variability from 3.30 to 3.36 in the visual band. However, in 1992 American astronomer Dorrit Hoffleit noted that the two comparison stars used to determine the variability may themselves be variable. Hence the actual variability of this star may be suspect.
Muscida has a magnitude 15.2 common proper motion companion at an angular separation of 7.1arcseconds. With a probability of 99.4%, this companion is the source for the X-ray emission from the system. Omicron Ursae Majoris is sometimes listed with two more companions, but, based on proper motion data, these appear to be optical companions. No other companions were detected by 2016.
This system is a member of the thin disk population and is following an orbit through the Milky Way galaxy with an eccentricity of 0.12. It comes as close to the Galactic Center as 23.5kly (7.2kpc) and as distant as 30.2kly (9.3kpc). This orbit carries it no more than about 330ly (100pc) above the galactic plane. It is considered a runaway star because it has a high peculiar velocity of 35.5km s−1 relative to the typical motion of stars in its vicinity.
The star has no detectable magnetic fields.
Planetary system
In 2012, an exoplanet designated Omicron Ursae Majoris Ab and orbiting the primary at 3.9 astronomical units, was found. This gas giant (4.1 times as massive as Jupiter) completes an orbit in 1630 days.
12Johnson, H. L.; etal. (1966). "UBVRIJKL photometry of the bright stars". Communications of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. 4 (99): 99. Bibcode:1966CoLPL...4...99J.
↑Kunitzsch, Paul; Smart, Tim (2006). A Dictionary of Modern star Names: A Short Guide to 254 Star Names and Their Derivations (2nd rev.ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Sky Pub. ISBN978-1-931559-44-7.
↑Hoffleit, D. (October 1992). "Do all Three Vary: omicron UMa, 23 UMa and HR 3245?". Information Bulletin on Variable Stars. 3789: 1. Bibcode:1992IBVS.3789....1H.