Xi Arietis

Xi Arietis, Latinized from ξ Arietis, is the Bayer designation for a binary star system in the northern constellation of Aries. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 5.46, and so is dimly visible to the naked eye. Based upon an annual parallax shift of $13,627$ as seen from Earth, it is 872 +/- distant from the Sun. At that distance, the visual magnitude of the star is diminished by an extinction factor of 0.24 due to interstellar dust.

This is a double-lined spectroscopic binary. The spectrum matches a stellar classification of B7 IV, which would indicate a subgiant star that has exhausted the supply of hydrogen at its core and is in the process of evolving into a giant star. Xi Arietis was once a designation for Psi Ceti (ψ Cet, ψ Ceti).