Star profile
Gamma Phoenicis
Variable starWhat is Gamma Phoenicis
Gamma Phoenicis is a red giant set in the heart of the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes. It belongs to a spectroscopic binary whose 194-day orbit produces faint pulses of brightness, like a slow respiration. Its coppery hue marks an aged star: the core hydrogen long spent, now burning in an outer shell while helium waits its turn in the silence at the centre.
Where it is and when to see it
Gamma 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 September: 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 Gamma Phoenicis
- Constellation
- Phoenix
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.41
- Distance
- 233.7 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 22.091° · Dec -43.318°
- Catalogue
- HIP 6867 · HD 9053
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Phoenix
Phoenix has 39 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- AnkaaAlpha Phoenicis2.40
- Beta Phoenicis3.32
- Epsilon Phoenicis3.88
- Kappa Phoenicis3.93
- Delta Phoenicis3.93
- WurrenZeta Phoenicis3.94
- Eta Phoenicis4.36
- Psi Phoenicis4.39