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. It is also known as 52 Ceti, HD 10700, HR 509, BD-16°295, GCTP 365.00, LHS 146, GJ 71 and HIP 8102.

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 than 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.

Tau Ceti 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: 0.43 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 Harry Turtledove's Worldwar series this is the home star of the invading aliens known as the Race.

• In the game System Shock 2, Tau Ceti V was where the starship Von Braun travelled on its maiden voyage. It also was the source of the invasion on the ship by both the AI SHODAN and the by SHODAN created lifeform Annelid.

• In Larry Niven's Known Space series, the human colony of Plateau orbited Tau Ceti.

• In Dan Simmon's Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion, Tau Ceti is orbited by Tau Ceti Center, capitol of the Hegemony of Man.

See also:

• List of nearest stars

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