Star profile
Iota Phoenicis
Variable starWhat is Iota Phoenicis
Iota Phoenicis is a white A-type variable about two hundred and fifty light-years away. Its brightness shifts in subtle ways that betray physical processes in its outer layers, common to stars of its temperature and stage. It nestles in the wing of the bird reborn from its ashes —a constellation added in the sixteenth century by the navigators who first charted the southern skies.
Where it is and when to see it
Iota Phoenicis lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is August, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never rises above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 7° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 81° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 47° N.
It ranks no. 11 in brightness among the 39 stars of Phoenix in our catalogue. To find it, start from Ankaa, the brightest: it lies about 9° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 250 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Iota Phoenicis
- Constellation
- Phoenix
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.69
- Distance
- 248.8 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 353.769° · Dec -42.615°
- Catalogue
- HIP 116389 · HD 221760
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Other stars in Phoenix
Phoenix has 39 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- AnkaaAlpha Phoenicis2.40
- Beta Phoenicis3.32
- Gamma Phoenicis3.41
- Eta Phoenicis4.36
- Psi Phoenicis4.39
- Mu Phoenicis4.59
- HIP 1166024.74
- Lambda 1 Phoenicis4.76