ν Ceti, Latinized as Nu Ceti, is a

binary star A binary star is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved using a telescope as separate stars, in ...

system in the equatorial constellation of

Cetus Cetus () is a constellation, sometimes called 'the whale' in English. The Cetus was a sea monster in Greek mythology which both Perseus and Heracles needed to slay. Cetus is in the region of the sky that contains other water-related conste ...

. It is visible to the naked eye as a faint point of light with a combined

apparent visual magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's lig ...

of 4.86. The system is located approximately 340

light year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...

s distant from the Sun, based on

parallax Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby object ...

, and is drifting further away with a

radial velocity The radial velocity or line-of-sight velocity, also known as radial speed or range rate, of a target with respect to an observer is the rate of change of the distance or range between the two points. It is equivalent to the vector projection ...

of 4.8 km/s. Nu Ceti is believed to be part of the Ursa Major stream of co-moving stars. In Chinese, (), meaning '' Circular Celestial Granary'', refers to an asterism consisting of

α Ceti Alpha Ceti (α Ceti, abbreviated Alpha Cet, α Cet), officially named Menkar , is the second-brightest star in the constellation of Cetus. It is a cool luminous red giant about 250 light years away. Nomenclature ''Alpha Ceti'' is th ...

, κ¹ Ceti, λ Ceti, μ Ceti, ξ¹ Ceti, ξ² Ceti, ν Ceti,

γ Ceti Gamma Ceti (γ Ceti, abbreviated Gamma Cet, γ Cet) is a triple star system in the equatorial constellation of Cetus. It has a combined apparent visual magnitude of 3.47. Based upon parallax measurements, this star is located at a dista ...

δ Ceti Delta Ceti, Latinized from δ Ceti, is a single, blue-white hued star in the equatorial constellation of Cetus. The star's apparent visual magnitude of +4.06 means it is near to the cusp of the faintest third of the stars that are visi ...

, 75 Ceti, 70 Ceti,

63 Ceti 63 Ceti is a star in the constellation of Cetus, located just over a degree south of the celestial equator. With an apparent magnitude of about 5.9, the star is barely visible to the naked eye (see Bortle scale) as a dim, orange-hued poi ...

and

66 Ceti 66 may refer to: * 66 (number) * One of the years 66 BC, AD 66, 1966, 2066 * "66" (song), a song by Lil Yachty featuring Trippie Redd *66, a song by The Afghan Whigs, from the album 1965 * Sixty-Six (card game), a German card game * ''Sixty Six' ...

. Consequently, the

Chinese name Chinese names or Chinese personal names are names used by individuals from Greater China and other parts of the Chinese-speaking world throughout East and Southeast Asia (ESEA). In addition, many names used in Japan, Korea and Vietnam are oft ...

for ν Ceti itself is "the Seventh Star of Circular Celestial Granary", .AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 7 月 11 日
/ref> The primary, designated component A, forms a single-lined spectroscopic binary with an

orbital period The orbital period (also revolution period) is the amount of time a given astronomical object takes to complete one orbit around another object. In astronomy, it usually applies to planets or asteroids orbiting the Sun, moons orbiting planets ...

of and an eccentricity of 0.27. The visible component is a

G-type Gaea Gaea is one of the Elder Gods of Earth. Gaia Gaia, also known as the Guardian of the Universal Amalgamator, is a fictional superhero, depicted as possibly being a mutant or extraterrestrial. Created by Larry Hama, she first appeared in ...

giant star A giant star is a star with substantially larger radius and luminosity than a main-sequence (or ''dwarf'') star of the same surface temperature.Giant star, entry in ''Astronomy Encyclopedia'', ed. Patrick Moore, New York: Oxford University Press ...

, currently on the

horizontal branch The horizontal branch (HB) is a stage of stellar evolution that immediately follows the red-giant branch in stars whose masses are similar to the Sun's. Horizontal-branch stars are powered by helium fusion in the core (via the triple-alpha proce ...

, with a

stellar classification In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting t ...

of G8III. In addition to the spectroscopic companion there is a visual companion star which shares a common proper motion with Nu Ceti A, designated component B; an

F-type main-sequence star An F-type main-sequence star (F V) is a main-sequence, hydrogen-fusing star of spectral type F and luminosity class V. These stars have from 1.0 to 1.4 times the mass of the Sun and surface temperatures between 6,000 and 7,600 K.Tables VI ...

with a class of F7V and a 9.08 apparent visual magnitude located 8.0 arcsec away. It was discovered by Struve.

References

External links

*http://server3.wikisky.org/starview?object_type=1&object_id=1566 *http://www.alcyone.de/SIT/bsc/HR0754.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Nu Ceti F-type main-sequence stars Cetus, Nu Horizontal-branch stars Spectroscopic binaries Ursa Major Moving Group Cetus (constellation) Cetus, Nu Durchmusterung objects Ceti, 78 016161 012093 0754