Phi Velorum (φ Vel, φ Velorum) is a

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

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 ...

Vela. It is a blue-white B-type supergiant with an

apparent magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's li ...

of +3.53. It is approximately 1,590 light years from

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

Nomenclature

φ Velorum ( Latinised to Phi Velorum, abbreviated to φ Vel) is the

Bayer designation A Bayer designation is a stellar designation in which a specific star is identified by a Greek or Latin letter followed by the genitive form of its parent constellation's Latin name. The original list of Bayer designations contained 1,564 stars. ...

for this star. It is also listed as HR 3940 in the

Bright Star Catalogue The Bright Star Catalogue, also known as the Yale Catalogue of Bright Stars, Yale Bright Star Catalogue, or just YBS, is a star catalogue that lists all stars of stellar magnitude 6.5 or brighter, which is roughly every star visible to the na ...

and HD 86440 in the Henry Draper Catalogue. It has the traditional name Tseen Ke, from Chinese 天紀 (Mandarin ''tiānjì)'' "star chart". (lit. "Record of Heaven").

Properties

φ Velorum has a temperature of 14,600 K. Combined with a radius of , it has a luminosity of . It has exhausted its core hydrogen and left the main sequence to become a supergiant. It has a current mass of about .

Companion

φ Velorum has an optical companion 39" away. It is a 12th magnitude K0 giant star.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phi Velorum Velorum, Phi Vela (constellation) B-type supergiants Tseen Ke 048774 3940 086440 Durchmusterung objects