Delta Ceti
Delta Ceti (δ Ceti, δ Cet) is a Class B2, fourth-magnitude star in the constellation Cetus.
Properties
Delta Ceti is positioned very near the celestial equator and is located about 0.74 degrees WNW of the spiral galaxy M77. Delta Ceti is a blue giant star located about 660 light-years from Earth.
It is a Beta Cephei variable.
Name
This star, along with α Cet (Menkar), λ Cet (Menkar), γ Cet (Kaffaljidhma), μ Cet, ξ1 Cet and ξ2 Cet were Al Kaff al Jidhmah, "the Part of a Hand".
According to the catalogue of stars in the Technical Memorandum 33-507 - A Reduced Star Catalog Containing 537 Named Stars, Al Kaff al Jidhmah were the title for five stars :γ Cet as Kaffaljidhma, ξ1 Cet as Al Kaff al Jidhmah I, ξ2 Cet as Al Kaff al Jidhmah II, δ Cet as Al Kaff al Jidhmah III and μ Cet as Al Kaff al Jidhmah IV (exclude α Cet and λ Cet)
In Chinese, 天囷 (Tiān Qūn), meaning Circular Celestial Granary, refers to an asterism consisting of δ Ceti, α Ceti, κ1 Ceti, λ Ceti, μ Ceti, ξ1 Ceti, ξ2 Ceti, ν Ceti, γ Ceti, 75 Ceti, 70 Ceti, 63 Ceti and 66 Ceti. Consequently, δ Ceti itself is known as 天囷九 (Tiān Qūn jiǔ, English: the Ninth Star of Circular Celestial Granary.)
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