Your Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky
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public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
north SunriseRise: 4:48  
clear_day Transit: 12:56  
SunsetSet: 21:05 south
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All Constellations » Cetus » 

12 Ceti

12 Ceti is a double hypergiant star in the constellation of Cetus.

12 Ceti visual magnitude is 5.72. Because of its reltive faintness, 12 Ceti should be visible only from locations with dark skyes, while it is not visible at all from skyes affected by light pollution.

The table below summarizes the key facts about 12 Ceti:

5.72
Hypergiant
12 Ceti is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of 12 Ceti

12 Ceti is situated close to the celestial equator, as such, it is at least partly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year. Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox as well as galactic coordinates of 12 Ceti are provided in the following table:

00h 30m 02s
-03° 57’ 25”
109.57°
-66.27°
Cetus

The simplified sky map below shows the position of 12 Ceti in the sky:

Finder chart 12 Ceti star
Simplified finder chart for 12 Ceti.

Visibility of 12 Ceti from your location

Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London

Today's 12 Ceti rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 94.0°
Max altitude: 34.6°
Azimuth: 266.0°
12 Ceti is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of 12 Ceti

The image below is a photograph of 12 Ceti from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2 - see the credits section) taken in the red channel. The area of sky represented in the image is 0.5x0.5 degrees (30x30 arcmins). The proper motion of 12 Ceti is 0.011 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.012 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of 12 Ceti star
DSS2 image of 12 Ceti. The red arrow shows the motion of 12 Ceti during the next 10000 years (1.83 arcmin in Right Ascension and -2.00 arcmin in declination);

Distance of 12 Ceti from the Sun and relative movement

12 Ceti is distant 853.40 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 5 kilometers per second.

261.78 pc
853.40 ly
5 km/s
0.011 arcsec/year
-0.012 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of 12 Ceti

12 Ceti belongs to spectral class M0 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a hypergiant star.

-1.37
M0III
3705K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where 12 Ceti is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

HR Diagram
H-R diagram showing the position of 12 Ceti. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

12 Ceti star system properties

12 Ceti is a visual double star which can be observed with the help of small or medium telescopes. The table below shows key information about the 12 Ceti double sysyem:

5.72
11.32
5.6
10.6 arcsec

Alternative designations of 12 Ceti

SAO128791
SAO128791