Beta Ceti is the brightest star in the constellation of Cetus. It is officially named Diphda, pronounced ; Beta Ceti is its Bayer designation, which is Latinized from β Ceti and abbreviated Beta Cet and β Cet. Although designated 'beta', it is actually brighter than the 'alpha' star in the constellation, Menkar, by half a magnitude. This orange giant is easy to identify due to its location in an otherwise dark section of the celestial sphere. Based on parallax measurements, it lies at an estimated distance of 96.3 light-years from the Sun.