Tau Ceti and its misleading classification

Tau Ceti is a star visible to the naked eye located 11.9 light-years from the Sun. Johann Bayer listed it at the beginning of the 17th century in his Uranometria according to a Greek designation supposed to follow the decreasing order of brightness. However, this nomenclature proved to be inaccurate since the star actually has an apparent magnitude of 3.50 in the visible range.