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In the western parts of Cetus, as part of the formation traditionally representing the head of the Whale, lies the prominent red giant Menkar or Alpha Ceti. Very close to that star in the sky - just a quarter of a degree to the north, as seen from Earth - is a much fainter blue star designated 93 Ceti.
Though close together in the sky, 93 Ceti is unrelated to red Menkar. In fact it lies almost twice as far from the Solar System: Menkar is some 249 light years away, while 93 Ceti lies some 195 light years beyond. (Some sources suggest an even greater distance, but the parallax measurements from the recent GAIA mission suggest a total distance for 93 Ceti of 444 light years.)
93 Ceti itself is a blue dwarf star. Though it appears some seventeen times fainter than its near neighbour Menkar, it is nonetheless rather larger and more luminous than the Sun. It appears to have a diameter rather more than three times that of the Sun, and it emits some 137 times as much light energy. As a blue star, 93 Ceti is much hotter than either the G-type yellow Sun, or the relatively cool red giant Menkar.
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