Tau Ceti
| Tau Ceti | |
 Mountains of Solace near Ptichka's Landing | |
| Stellar characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Cetus |
| Right ascension (Epoch J2000) | 01h 44m 04.0829s |
| Declination (Epoch J2000) | -15° 56' 14.928" |
| Spectral type | G8 V |
| Distance from Sol | 11.905 ± 0.007 ly |
| Other designations | Durre Menthor, Tau Cet, 52 Ceti, HD 10700, HR 509, BD-16°295, GCTP 365.00, GJ 71, LHS 146, LTT 935, LFT 159, SAO 147986, LPM 84, FK5 59, HIP 8102. |
| Planets | Krop Tor (Tau Ceti I) Gallifrey (Tau Ceti II) Mondas (Tau Ceti III) Ogros (Tau Ceti IV) Karn (Tau Ceti V) Skaro (Tau Ceti VI) Calufrax (Tau Ceti VII) Androzani Minor (Tau Ceti VIII) Androzani Major (Tau Ceti IX) |
Tau Ceti is a main sequence, yellow-orange dwarf (G8 Vp) that may be as much as 10 billion years old. It has about 81 to 82 percent of Sol's mass, around 77 percent its diameter (Pijpers et al, 2003), but only 59 percent of its luminosity (Saumon et al, 1996, page 17). The star does not appear to be as enriched as Sol in elements heavier than hydrogen ("metals") because it has only 22 to 74 percent of Sol's abundance of iron (Cayrel de Strobel et al, 1991, page 6).
Dust has been detected around Tau Ceti, as has been found in the Solar System (Kuchner et al, 1998 -- in pdf). There also may be an optical companion star seen in telescopes that is not actually bound by gravity to Tau Ceti, and the star does not appear to have a dim stellar or substellar companion based on astrometric measurements (Lippincott and Worth, 1980) or radial velocity variations (Campbell et al, 1988).
(boilerplate from SolStation.com)
Tau Ceti System
The Tau Ceti System was first explored in 2009 by the Soviet Air Force spacecraft Ptichka with a followup survey mission in 2014. The system consists of nine planets (Krop Tor, Gallifrey, Mondas, Ogros, Karn, Skaro, Calufrax, Androzani Minor and Androzani Major) and two major debris belts (the inner Ceti Belt and the outer Time Barrier).
Gallifrey is the only known life-supporting world in the Tau Ceti system, though it's possible that cryogenic ecosystems have evolved on Calufrax and the moons of Ogros and the Androzanis. As it stands, Gallifrey's ecosystem appears to be recovering from a Permian-style extinction event; the continents are largely desertified, with the oceans showing signs of rapid anoxia in the recent past.
The Soviet Air Force established an automated weather station on Gallifrey as part of the 2014 expedition.
