HD 51418 (NY Aurigae) is an Ap star and an α2 CVn variable located about 178pc away in the northern constellation of Auriga. With an apparent magnitude of 6.67 and a spectral type of A0, it can be faintly visible by the naked eye as a whitish dot under very good circumstances. The star has been noted as an "extreme lanthanide star," with an overabundance of metals including europium, dysprosium, and holmium, which can be observed in the star's spectra as emission lines.
In 1972, Austin F. Gulliver et al. announced that HD 51418 is a variable star. It was given its variable star designation, NY Aurigae, in 1975. HD 51418 possesses a strong magnetic field, which fluctuates in strength between -22-. The magnetic minimum is known to occur concurrently with the minimums in luminosity and rare-earth detection.
Speckle imaging observations conducted in 2009 revealed a previously unresolved companion star at a separation of 0.15 arcseconds. The secondary star, component "B" of the double star WDS 06593+4219 as designated in the Washington Double Star Catalog, is an F-type star with an apparent magnitude of 10.0.