τ Ceti (tau Ceti)

Above the horizon. Rise: 20:34 | Tran: 1:13 | Set: 5:48

Alt: 3.66° Az: 238.75° Direction: West-South-West

τ Ceti is a double main-sequence star of spectral class G8 in the constellation of Cetus.

τ Ceti visual magnitude is 3.5. Because of its moderate brightness, τ Ceti is easily visible to the naked eye from locations with dark skies, while it might be barely visible, or not visible at all, from light-polluted skies.

DSS2 image of τ Ceti. The red arrow shows the motion of τ Ceti during the next 100 years (-2.86 arcmin in Right Ascension and 1.43 arcmin in declination);

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

Right Ascension 01h 45m 16s

Declination -15° 48’ 49”

Hour Angle 04h 09m 52s

Sidereal Time 05h 55m 08s

J2000

Right Ascension 01h 44m 04s

Declination -15° 56’ 14”

Galactic Coordinates

Galactic Longitude 173.19°

Galactic Latitude -73.43°

Finder Chart

Simplified finder chart for τ Ceti (tau Ceti).

Magnitude, Color, Spectral Class

Color ⬤

Magnitude 3.5

Class Main-sequence

Absolute magnitude 5.69

Spectral Type G8V

Color Index (B-V) 0.72

Temperature 5534K

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

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

Star System Properties

τ 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 τ Ceti double sysyem:

Main star magnitude 3.5

Secondary star magnitude 13

Magnitude difference 9.5

Separation 89.8 arcsec

Distance, Radial Speed, Proper Motion

τ Ceti is distant 11.89 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 16 kilometers per second.

Distance (parsec) 3.65

Distance (light year) 11.89

Radial Speed -16 km/s

Proper Motion RA -1.718 arcsec/y

Proper Motion Dec 0.856"/y

Alternative Designations

Bayer designation τ Ceti
(tau Ceti)

Flamsteed designation 52 Ceti

Henry Draper Catalogue HD10700

SAO Catalogue SAO147986

Hipparcos Catalogue HIP8102

Durchmusterung Catalogue BD-16 295

Gliese Catalogue Gl 71

FK5 Catalogue 59

Visibility from Your Location

Today's τ Ceti (tau Ceti) rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, UK are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 105.8° RISE 20:34

Max altitude: 22.7° TRANSIT 1:13

Azimuth: 254.2° SET 5:48

Set Location

Other stars in Cetus