It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of +4.3.
[2] This star is located at a distance of approximately 197 light years from the Sun based on parallax, and is drifting further away with a radial velocity of 12 km/s.
[6] It made its closest approach some 2.7 million years ago at a distance of around 128 light-years.
[2] It displays a stellar classification of B9.5III,[3] which suggests it has exhausted its core hydrogen, evolved away from the main sequence, and expanded to become a giant star, although still only 127 million years old.
Consequently, the Chinese name for Xi2 Ceti itself is "the Sixth Star of Circular Celestial Granary", Tiān Qūn Liù.