Star profile

Tau Ceti

Nearby star

3D likeness based on its real data · class G · ~5,500 K

What is Tau Ceti

Tau Ceti is one of the closest Sun-like stars known, and the sixth-nearest naked-eye neighbour of our own — just 11.9 light years away. Twentieth-century astronomers chose it as a target for the first radio search for extraterrestrial civilisations, Project OZMA, in 1960. It is wrapped in a disc of dust and debris, and several planetary candidates have been proposed around it, making it one of the most closely watched solar analogues in the sky.

Where it is and when to see it

Tau 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 October, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 23° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 33° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 72° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 74° N.

It ranks no. 5 in brightness among the 111 stars of Cetus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Diphda, the brightest: it lies about 15° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 12 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Tau Ceti

Constellation: Cetus
Apparent magnitude: 3.49
Distance: 11.9 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 26.017° · Dec -15.937°
Catalogue: HIP 8102 · HD 10700

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Other stars in Cetus

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

See all 111 stars in Cetus