Pi Ceti
Encyclopedia
Pi Ceti is a Class B7
Stellar classification
In astronomy, stellar classification is a classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. The spectral class of a star is a designated class of a star describing the ionization of its chromosphere, what atomic excitations are most prominent in the light, giving an objective measure...

, fourth-magnitude star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

 in the constellation
Constellation
In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....

 Cetus. Pi Ceti is a blue main-sequence star located about 440 light-year
Light-year
A light-year, also light year or lightyear is a unit of length, equal to just under 10 trillion kilometres...

s from Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

.

Name

This star, along with ε Cet, ρ Cet and σ Cet, was Al Sufi's Al Sadr al Ḳaiṭos, the Whale's Breast

According to the catalogue of stars in the Technical Memorandum 33-507 - A Reduced Star Catalog Containing 537 Named Stars, Al Sadr al Ḳaiṭos were the title for four stars :ρ Cet as Al Sadr al Ḳaiṭos I, σ Cet as Al Sadr al Ḳaiṭos II, ε Cet as Al Sadr al Ḳaiṭos III and π Cet as Al Sadr al Ḳaiṭos IV

In Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

, , meaning Celestial Meadows
Hairy Head (Chinese constellation)
The Hairy Head mansion is one of the Twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the western mansions of the White Tiger.This mansion corresponds to the Pleiades in English.-Asterisms:...

, refers to an asterism consisting of π Ceti, γ Eridani
Gamma Eridani
Gamma Eridani is a star in the constellation Eridanus. It has the traditional name Zaurak, which means "the boat."In Chinese, , meaning Celestial Meadows, refers to an asterism consisting of γ Eridani, δ Eridani, π Eridani, ε Eridani, ζ Eridani , η Eridani, π Ceti, τ1 Eridani, τ2 Eridani, τ3...

, π Eridani, δ Eridani
Delta Eridani
Delta Eridani is a 3.54 magnitude star in the constellation of Eridanus. It is also called Rana. The name Rana means "the frog" in Latin...

 , ε Eridani
Epsilon Eridani
Epsilon Eridani is a star in the southern constellation Eridanus, along a declination 9.46° south of the celestial equator. This allows the star to be viewed from most of the Earth's surface. At a distance of 10.5 light years , it has an apparent magnitude of 3.73...

 , ζ Eridani , η Eridani
Eta Eridani
Eta Eridani is a star in the constellation Eridanus. It has the traditional name Azha . The word Azha is a corruption of Persian آشيانه āšiyāne The nest...

, τ1 Eridani, τ2 Eridani
Tau2 Eridani
Tau2 Eridani is a star in the constellation Eridanus . It is one of a series of stars that share the Bayer designation Tau Eridani...

, τ3 Eridani, τ4 Eridani
Tau4 Eridani
Tau4 Eridani is a Class M3.5III, fourth-magnitude star in the constellation Eridanus. Tau4 Eridani is a binary star system consisting primarily of Class M components, the brightest component being a Class M giant of apparent magnitude 3.66, having a mass and luminosity many times greater than that...

, τ5 Eridani, τ6 Eridani, τ7 Eridani, τ8 Eridani and τ9 Eridani. Consequently, δ Ceti itself is known as
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