Tau Ceti

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Tau Ceti is a star commonly used by science fiction authors since it is similar to the Sun, being of similar mass and similar spectral type as well as being relatively close to us. However, Tau Ceti is a "metal-deficient" star and therefore extremely unlikely to have rocky planets around it.

In 2004 a team of UK astronomers led by Jane Greaves discovered that Tau Ceti has more than ten times the amount of cometary and asteroidal material orbiting it that the Sun does. This was determined by measuring the disc of cold dust orbiting the star produced by collisions between such small bodies. This result puts a damper on the possibility of complex life in this system, as planets there would suffer from large impact events roughly ten times more frequently than Earth has.

It can be seen with the unaided eye as a faint star in the constellation of Cetus.

Some facts about Tau Ceti

Parallax: 0.274 arcsecs
Spectral type: G8 V
Radial velocity: -17 km/s
Proper Motion: 1.922 arcsecs/year
Apparent Visual Magnitude: 3.49
Absolute Visual Magnitude: 5.68
Luminosity: 0.62 Solar Luminosities
Distance: 12 light years

Tau Ceti in fiction

Several science fiction novels are set on or around a habitable planet orbiting Tau Ceti, of which the following is a sample.

In Isaac Asimov's Robot and Foundation novels, the planet Aurora and its two asteroidal satellites orbit Tau Ceti.
In the film version of Barbarella the decadent planet Sogo is in the Tau Ceti system.
In , Tau Ceti III was the location Jean-Luc Picard visited to meet with Captain Walker Keele about a Starfleet conspiracy.
In Harry Turtledove's Worldwar series this is the home star of the invading aliens known as the Race.

See also:

List of nearest stars