[2] The distance to this system is approximately 340 light years based on parallax measurements, and it is drifting closer to the Sun with a radial velocity of −4 km/s.

[11] The spectroscopic binary nature of Xi1 Ceti was discovered in 1901 by William Wallace Campbell using the Mills spectrograph at the Lick Observatory.

[5] It is a suspected eclipsing binary with an amplitude of 0.03 in magnitude, which would suggest the orbital plane has a high inclination.

[3] Morgan and Keenan in 1973 had classified it as a bright giant star with an anomalous underabundance of the CN molecule.

Consequently, the Chinese name for Xi1 Ceti itself is "the Fifth Star of Circular Celestial Granary", Tiān Qūn Wu.