42 Ceti

42 Ceti is a multiple giant star in the constellation of Cetus.

42 Ceti visual magnitude is 5.87. Because of its reltive faintness, 42 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 42 Ceti:

Color of 42 Ceti ⬤

Magnitude of 42 Ceti 5.87

Class Giant

VISIBILITY RIGHT NOW 42 Ceti is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt. Altitude: 37°.

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of 42 Ceti

42 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 42 Ceti are provided in the following table:

Right Ascension J2000 01h 19m 48s

Declination J2000 -00° 30’ 32”

Galactic Longitude 138.45°

Galactic Latitude -62.52°

Constellation Cetus

The simplified sky map below shows the position of 42 Ceti in the sky:

Simplified finder chart for 42 Ceti.

Visibility of 42 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 42 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: 90.5° RISE 3:53

Max altitude: 38.0° TRANSIT 9:49

Azimuth: 269.5° SET 15:44

RIGHT NOW 42 Ceti is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of 42 Ceti

The image below is a photograph of 42 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 42 Ceti is 0.012 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.014 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

DSS2 image of 42 Ceti. The red arrow shows the motion of 42 Ceti during the next 10000 years (2.00 arcmin in Right Ascension and -2.33 arcmin in declination);

Distance of 42 Ceti from the Sun and relative movement

42 Ceti is distant 394.20 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 14 kilometers per second.

Distance (parsec) 120.92 pc

Distance (light year) 394.20 ly

Heliocentric radial velocity 14 km/s

Proper Motion RA 0.012 arcsec/year

Proper Motion Dec -0.014 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of 42 Ceti

42 Ceti belongs to spectral class G8 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a giant star.

Absolute magnitude 0.46

Spectral Type G8III

Color Index (B-V) 0.64

Temperature of 42 Ceti 5815K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where 42 Ceti is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

H-R diagram showing the position of 42 Ceti. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

42 Ceti star system properties

42 Ceti is a visual double star which can be observed with the help of medium or large telescopes. The table below shows key information about the 42 Ceti double sysyem:

Main star magnitude 5.87

Secondary star magnitude 6.57

Magnitude difference 0.7

Separation 1.6 arcsec

Alternative designations of 42 Ceti

Flamsteed designation 42 Ceti

Henry Draper Catalogue HD8036

SAO Catalogue SAO129235

Hipparcos Catalogue HIP6226

Durchmusterung Catalogue BD-01 171

Aitken Double Star Catalogue ADS1081

In Evidence

Other stars in Cetus