Rho Ceti is a star in the equatorial constellation of Cetus. Its name is a Bayer designation that is Latinized from ÃÂ Ceti, and abbreviated Rho Cet or ÃÂ Cet. This star 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 , is around 560 light years. It is drifting further away with a line of sight velocity component of +19 km/s.
This star has a stellar classification of A0 V, which is presenting as an A-type main sequence star. However, it may be in the subgiant stage of its evolution. 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 6.3 times the radius of the Sun and is radiating 328 times the solar luminosity from its outer atmosphere at an effective temperature of .
This star, along with àCet, õ Cet and àCet, was Al Sufi's Al Sadr al Ḳaiá¹Âos, 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 Ḳaiá¹Âos were the title for four stars :this star (àCet) as Al Sadr al Ḳaiá¹Âos I, àCet as Al Sadr al Ḳaiá¹Âos II, õ Cet as Al Sadr al Ḳaiá¹Âos III and àCet as Al Sadr al Ḳaiá¹Âos IV.
In Chinese, (), meaning Hay, refers to an asterism consisting of àCeti, 77 Ceti, 67 Ceti, 71 Ceti, HD 14691 and õ Cet. Consequently, the Chinese name for àCeti itself is (, .