Given its similarity to the Sun, Tau Ceti has been a popular setting or reference in science fiction works.
Isaac Asimov set the planet "Aurora" and its two asteroidal satellites around Tau Ceti in the Robot and Foundation novels. In Robert A. Heinlein's novel Time for the Stars, the flagship Elsie encounters a few planets and an Earth-type planet that they name "Constance." In Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed, the action takes place in a fictional double planet system orbiting Tau Ceti. The two planets are called "Anarres" and "Urras."
Tau Ceti has figured more than once in the popular Star Trek television serials. In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Journey's End," the alien known as The Traveler is said to come from Tau Ceti. In the Star Trek: Enterprise episode, "In a Mirror, Darkly" a reference is made to a battle at Tau Ceti.