Rho Ceti


Rho Ceti , Latinized from ρ Ceti, is the Bayer designation for a star in the equatorial constellation of Cetus. It is faintly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.885. The distance to this star, based upon an annual parallax shift of 7.15 mas, is around 460 light years.
This is an A-type main sequence star with a stellar classification of A0 V. It is spinning rapidly with a projected rotational velocity of 219 km/s, giving the star an oblate shape with an equatorial bulge that is 10% larger than the polar radius. The star has an estimated size 3.1 times the radius of the Sun and is radiating 178 times the solar luminosity from its outer atmosphere at an effective temperature of 8,905 K.

Name

This star, along with π Cet, ε 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 :this star 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, 芻蒿, meaning Hay'', refers to an asterism consisting of ρ Ceti, 77 Ceti, 67 Ceti, 71 Ceti, HD 14691 and ε Cet. Consequently, the Chinese name for ρ Ceti itself is 芻蒿一 (Chú Hāo yī, the First Star of Celestial Meadows.