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: 4:46  
clear_day Transit: 12:56  
SunsetSet: 21:07 south
sunny DaytimeWhat's Visible Now
All Constellations » Cetus » 

ρ Ceti (rho Ceti)

Altitude: 21.8°   Azimuth: 150.6°   Direction: South-South-East

ρ Ceti is a main-sequence star in the constellation of Cetus.

ρ Ceti visual magnitude is 4.89. Because of its moderate brightness, ρ 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 ρ Ceti:

4.89
Main-sequence

ρ Ceti (rho Ceti) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: 21.8°
Azimuth: 150.6°
Direction: South-South-East

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of ρ Ceti

ρ 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 ρ Ceti are provided in the following table:

02h 25m 57s
-12° 17’ 26”
183.75°
-63.35°
Cetus

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

Finder chart ρ Ceti (rho Ceti) star
Simplified finder chart for ρ Ceti (rho Ceti).

Visibility of ρ 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 ρ Ceti (rho 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: 102.3°
Max altitude: 26.2°
Azimuth: 257.7°
ρ Ceti (rho Ceti) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of ρ Ceti

The image below is a photograph of ρ 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 ρ Ceti is -0.01 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.009 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of ρ Ceti (rho Ceti) star
DSS2 image of ρ Ceti. The red arrow shows the motion of ρ Ceti during the next 10000 years (-1.67 arcmin in Right Ascension and -1.50 arcmin in declination);

Distance of ρ Ceti from the Sun and relative movement

ρ Ceti is distant 528.36 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 10 kilometers per second.

162.07 pc
528.36 ly
10 km/s
-0.01 arcsec/year
-0.009 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of ρ Ceti

ρ Ceti belongs to spectral class B9 and has a luminosity class of V corresponding to a main-sequence star.

-1.16
B9V
10516K

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

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

Alternative designations of ρ Ceti

ρ Ceti
(rho Ceti)
SAO148385
SAO148385