Tau Ceti plays a significant role in Project Hail Mary and we will explore scientific details of this nearby star in a future beanbag. Writers besides Andy Weir have decided to feature Tau Ceti prominently in their stories, with one example coming from Ursula K. Le Guin.

In Le Guin’s The Dispossessed, readers are introduced to Anarres and Urras, two neighboring worlds in the Tau Ceti system. Anarres, while technically a moon of Urras, is able to sustain a human community (though it lacks any diversity of nonhuman animals) and is considered by some to be more like a twin planet to Urras.

When asked about her selection of the this star system as a setting for her story, Le Guin explained in 2015 that Tau Ceti’s similarity to our sun might lead to a higher possibility of supporting a habitable planetary system.

That very same reason makes Tau Ceti an appealing target for astronomers seeking nearby exoplanets, with multiple planetary candidates proposed in recent years.