Magnitude 4.238 Apparent magnitude (V) 4.238 | Constellation Cetus | |
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Pi Ceti (π Ceti, π Cet) is the Bayer designation for a star system in the equatorial constellation of Cetus. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.238. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 8.30 mas, it is located around 393 light years from the Sun.
This is a single-lined spectroscopic binary system with a nearly circular orbit and a period of 7.45 years. The fact that the system has a negligible eccentricity is surprising for such a long period, and may suggest that the secondary is a white dwarf that had its orbit circularized during a mass-transfer event.
The primary, component A, is a normal B-type star that has been given stellar classifications of B7 V and B7 IV. It appears very young – less than half a million years in age – and may still be on a pre-main sequence track. The star shows no magnetic field but it does emit an infrared excess.
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, 天苑 (Tiān Yuàn), meaning Celestial Meadows, refers to an asterism consisting of π Ceti, γ Eridani, π Eridani, δ Eridani, ε Eridani, ζ Eridani, η Eridani, τ1 Eridani, τ2 Eridani, τ3 Eridani, τ4 Eridani, τ5 Eridani, τ6 Eridani, τ7 Eridani, τ8 Eridani and τ9 Eridani. Consequently, δ Ceti itself is known as 天苑七 (Tiān Yuàn qī, English: the Seventh Star of Celestial Meadows.)