Your guide to the Solar System and the night sky
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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:45  ☀️ Transit: 13:03  🌅 Sunset: 19:23

μ Ceti (mu Ceti)

μ Ceti is a variable and double hypergiant star in the constellation of Cetus.

μ Ceti visual magnitude is 4.27. Because of its moderate brightness, μ Ceti should be easily visible from locations with dark skyes, while it can be barely visible, or not visible at all, from skyes affected by light pollution.

The table below summarizes the key facts about μ Ceti:

4.27
Hypergiant
μ Ceti (mu Ceti) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]. Altitude: 34°.

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of μ Ceti

μ 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 μ Ceti are provided in the following table:

02h 44m 56s
+10° 06’ 51”
163.25°
-43.7°
Cetus

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

Finder chart μ Ceti (mu Ceti) star
Simplified finder chart for μ Ceti (mu Ceti).

Visibility of μ Ceti from your location

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

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

Azimuth: 79.9°
Max altitude: 48.6°
Azimuth: 280.1°
μ Ceti (mu Ceti) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of μ Ceti

The image below is a photograph of μ 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 μ Ceti is 0.284 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.036 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 1000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of μ Ceti (mu Ceti) star
DSS2 image of μ Ceti. The red arrow shows the motion of μ Ceti during the next 1000 years (4.73 arcmin in Right Ascension and -0.60 arcmin in declination);

Distance of μ Ceti from the Sun and relative movement

μ Ceti is distant 84.22 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 30 kilometers per second.

25.83 pc
84.22 ly
30 km/s
0.284 arcsec/year
-0.036 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of μ Ceti

μ Ceti belongs to spectral class F0 and has a luminosity class of IV corresponding to a hypergiant star.

2.21
F0IV
7399K

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

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

μ Ceti star system properties

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

4.27
5.67
1.4
0.1 arcsec

Alternative designations of μ Ceti

μ Ceti
(mu Ceti)
SAO110723
SAO110723