Star profile
Phi 2 Ceti
What is Phi 2 Ceti
Phi-2 Ceti is one of the closest stars in this batch: barely 51 light-years separate it from the solar system. A yellow-white type F star, slightly hotter and more luminous than the Sun, it crosses the swath of the Whale, the huge sea creature that Greek charts drew between Andromeda and Eridanus. Its proximity makes it one of those modest-looking systems loaded with potential when astronomers go hunting for temperate planets.
Where it is and when to see it
Phi 2 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.
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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
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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 Phi 2 Ceti
- Constellation
- Cetus
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.17
- Distance
- 51.4 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 12.532° · Dec -10.644°
- Catalogue
- HIP 3909 · HD 4813
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.
- DiphdaBeta Ceti2.04
- MenkarAlpha Ceti2.54
- Eta Ceti3.46
- HIP 11585.13
- 37 Ceti5.14
- HIP 23815.17
- 13 Ceti5.20
- HIP 35055.22