Phoenix is a minor constellation in the southern sky. Named after the mythical phoenix, it was first depicted on a celestial atlas by Johann Bayer in his 1603 Uranometria. The French explorer and astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille charted the brighter stars and gave their Bayer designations in 1756. The constellation stretches from roughly −39° to −57° declination, and from 23.5h to 2.5h of right ascension. The constellations Phoenix, Grus, Pavo and Tucana, are known as the Southern Birds.
W Ursae Majoris is the variable star designation for a binary star system in the northern constellation of Ursa Major. It has an apparent visual magnitude of about 7.9, which is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. However, it can be viewed with a small telescope. Parallax measurements place it at a distance of roughly 169 light years (52 parsecs) from Earth.
Alpha Phoenicis, formally named Ankaa, with the same pronunciation) is the brightest star in the constellation of Phoenix.
Gamma Persei is a binary star system in the constellation Perseus. The combined apparent visual magnitude of the pair is +2.9, making it the fourth-brightest member of the constellation. The distance to this system is of roughly 221 light-years with a 1% margin of error. About 4° to the north of Gamma Persei is the radiance point for the annual Perseid meteor shower.
V1472 Aquilae is a triple star system in the equatorial constellation of Aquila. It is a variable star that ranges in brightness from 6.36 down to 6.60. The system is located at a distance of approximately 780 light years from the Sun based on parallax. It is a high-velocity star system with a radial velocity of −112 km/s.
SX Phoenicis is a variable star in the southern constellation Phoenix. With an apparent visual magnitude ranging around 7.33, it is too faint to be readily seen with the naked eye and requires binoculars. It is located 272 light years from the Sun, as determined from an annual parallax shift of 12 mas.
Gamma Phoenicis is a star system in the constellation Phoenix, located around 71.63 parsecs (233.6 ly) distant.
Chi2 Hydrae, Latinised from χ2 Hydrae, is a binary star system in the equatorial constellation of Hydra. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 4.6 mas as seen from Earth, it is located roughly 685 light years from the Sun. It is visible to the naked eye with a combined apparent visual magnitude of about 5.7.
Phi Phoenicis, Latinized from φ Phoenicis, is a binary star system in the southern constellation of Phoenix. It is faintly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.1. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 10.185 mas as seen from Earth, it is located approximately 320 light years from the Sun. It is moving away with a heliocentric radial velocity of 10.4 km/s.
Xi Phoenicis, Latinized from ξ Phoenicis, is a visual binary star system in the southern constellation of Phoenix. It is faintly visible to the naked eye, having an apparent visual magnitude of 5.70. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 14.61 mas as measured from Earth, it is located around 223 light years from the Sun. The system is moving away from the Sun with a radial velocity of about +10 km/s.
SV Centauri is a variable star in the constellation Centaurus. An eclipsing binary, its visual apparent magnitude has a maximum of 8.71, fading to 9.98 during primary eclipse and 9.42 during secondary eclipse. From its brightness, it's estimated to be around 6,000 light-years away from Earth. Parallax measurements from Gaia Data Release 2 yield a similar distance of around 2,100 pc.
AE Phoenicis is a variable star in the constellation of Phoenix. An eclipsing binary, its apparent magnitude has a maximum of 7.56, dimming to 8.25 during primary eclipse and 8.19 during secondary eclipse. From parallax measurements by the Gaia spacecraft, the system is located at a distance of 168 light-years from Earth.
BD Phoenicis is a variable star in the constellation of Phoenix. From parallax measurements by the Gaia spacecraft, it is located at a distance of 256 light-years from Earth. Its absolute magnitude is calculated at 1.5.
AI Phoenicis is a variable star in the constellation of Phoenix. An Algol-type eclipsing binary, its apparent magnitude is constant at 8.58 for most of the time, sharply dropping to 9.35 during primary eclipse and to 8.89 during secondary eclipse. The system's variability was discovered by W. Strohmeier in 1972. From parallax measurements by the Gaia spacecraft, the system is located at a distance of 560 light-years from Earth, in agreement with earlier estimates based on its luminosity.
V752 Centauri is multiple star system and variable star in the constellation of Centaurus. An eclipsing binary, its apparent magnitude has a maximum of 9.10, dimming to 9.66 during primary eclipse and 9.61 during secondary eclipse. Its variability was discovered by Howard Bond in 1970. From parallax measurements by the Gaia spacecraft, the system is located at a distance of 410 light-years from Earth.
DY Pegasi, abbreviated DY Peg, is a binary star system in the northern constellation of Pegasus. It is a well-studied SX Phoenicis variable star with a brightness that ranges from an apparent visual magnitude of 9.95 down to 10.62 with a period of 1.75 hours. This system is much too faint to be seen with the naked eye, but can be viewed with large binoculars or a telescope. Based on its high space motion and low abundances of heavier elements, it is a population II star system.
XY Ursae Majoris is a short period binary star system in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Major. It is an eclipsing binary with a baseline apparent visual magnitude of 9.50. The system is located at a distance of 221.5 light years from the Sun based on parallax measurements, but is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −10 km/s. It has a relatively high proper motion, traversing the celestial sphere at the angular rate of 0.191″·yr−1.
V346 Centauri is a variable star in the constellation Centaurus. An Algol-type eclipsing binary, its apparent magnitude has a maximum of 8.50, dropping to 8.77 during primary eclipse and to 8.72 during secondary eclipse, the latter being a total eclipse. From parallax measurements by the Gaia spacecraft, the system is located at a distance of about 2300 parsecs (7400 light-years), which is consistent with earlier estimates, based on its luminosity, of 2380 parsecs. The system is a confirmed member of the open cluster Stock 14, which contains many other young OB stars.
BH Virginis is a binary star system in the equatorial constellation of Virgo. With a typical apparent visual magnitude of 9.6, it is too faint to be visible to the naked eye. Based on parallax measurements, it is located at a distance of approximately 488 light years from the Sun. The system is drifting closer with a net radial velocity of −23 km/s.
RS Sagittarii is an eclipsing binary star system in the southern constellation of Sagittarius, abbreviated RS Sgr. It is a double-lined spectroscopic binary with an orbital period of 2.416 days, indicating that the components are too close to each other to be individually resolved. The system has a combined apparent visual magnitude of 6.01, which is bright enough to be faintly visible to the naked eye. During the primary eclipse the brightness drops to magnitude 6.97, while the secondary eclipse is of magnitude 6.28. The distance to this system is approximately 1,420 light years based on parallax measurements.
