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Star profile

Iota Ceti

3D likeness based on its real data · class K · ~4,200 K

What is Iota Ceti

Iota Ceti, also called Deneb Kaitos Shemali —«the northern tail of the Whale»— is an orange K2 III giant about 275 light-years away. Its radius has swollen to thirty times the Sun's, and it pours out 380 solar luminosities at 4,645 K. A much fainter companion shares its proper motion across the sky: a quiet pair drifting through the heavens at the same pace.

Where it is and when to see it

Iota Ceti lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is September: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.

Find it on the sky map

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The signature wall

Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.

A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works

If you don't have an account yet, we'll ask for an email to confirm it's you: we send you a link and that's it, no password.

Write my signature

A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.

Astronomical data for Iota Ceti

Constellation
Cetus
Apparent magnitude
3.56
Distance
274.6 light years
Coordinates (J2000)
RA 4.857° · Dec -8.824°
Catalogue
HIP 1562 · HD 1522

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

Other stars in Cetus

Cetus has 111 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 111 stars in Cetus