Star profile
Phact
Alpha Columbae · Columba
Hot blue starWhat is Phact
Phact is the main light of Columba, the Dove —a modern constellation created in the 16th century to evoke the bird Noah released after the flood. A hot blue star 261 light-years away, its name comes from the Arabic «al-fākhita», the wood pigeon. It flies low over the southern European horizon, almost always veiled by city glow, shining above a winter sky without trying.
Where it is and when to see it
Phact lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is December: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.
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The signature wall
Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.
A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works
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A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.
Astronomical data for Phact
- Constellation
- Columba
- Apparent magnitude
- 2.65
- Distance
- 261.4 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 84.912° · Dec -34.074°
- Catalogue
- HIP 26634 · HD 37795
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Columba
Columba has 45 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- WaznBeta Columbae3.12
- Delta Columbae3.85
- Epsilon Columbae3.86
- Eta Columbae3.96
- Gamma Columbae4.36
- Kappa Columbae4.37
- Omicron Columbae4.81
- Lambda Columbae4.88