Beta Phoenicis (β Phoenicis, β Phe) is a

binary star A binary star is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved using a telescope as separate stars, in wh ...

in the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

Phoenix. Its apparent magnitude is 3.30, meaning that it can be seen with the naked eye ''(see

Bortle scale The Bortle scale (also known as the Bottle scale) is a nine-level numeric scale that measures the night sky's brightness of a particular location. It quantifies the astronomical observability of celestial objects and the interference caused by lig ...

)''. The distance to Beta Phoenicis is poorly known. The original reduction of the

Hipparcos ''Hipparcos'' was a scientific satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA), launched in 1989 and operated until 1993. It was the first space experiment devoted to precision astrometry, the accurate measurement of the positions of celestial obj ...

satellite's data yielded a

parallax Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects ...

value of 16 milliarcseconds, yet its standard error was larger than the parallax value itself. The new reduction of the Hipparcos data gave 0.12 ± 14.62 milliarcseconds, still unusable. The General Catalogue of Trigonometric Parallaxes, an older catalogue of ground-based parallaxes, lists the parallax as 20 ± 16 milliarcseconds, corresponding to about . Beta Phoenicis is a relatively wide

visual binary A visual binary is a gravitationally bound binary star system that can be resolved into two stars. These stars are estimated, via Kepler's third law, to have periods ranging from a few years to thousands of years. A visual binary consists of two st ...

consisting of two

G-type Gaea Gaea is one of the Elder Gods of Earth. Gaia Gaia, also known as the Guardian of the Universal Amalgamator, is a fictional superhero, depicted as possibly being a mutant or extraterrestrial. Created by Larry Hama, she first appeared in ...

giant star A giant star is a star with substantially larger radius and luminosity than a main-sequence (or ''dwarf'') star of the same surface temperature.Giant star, entry in ''Astronomy Encyclopedia'', ed. Patrick Moore, New York: Oxford University Press ...

s, both with

spectral type In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting th ...

s of G8III. The two orbit each other every 170.7 years and have a relatively

eccentric Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off- center, in geometry * Eccentricity (graph theory) of a ...

orbit. The stars are separated by almost one

arcsecond A minute of arc, arcminute (arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of one degree. Since one degree is of a turn (or complete rotation), one minute of arc is of a turn. The na ...

References

{{Stars of Phoenix G-type giants Binary stars Phoenix (constellation) Phoenicis, Beta Durchmusterung objects 006595 005165 0322