Star profile
Phi Sagittarii
Hot blue starWhat is Phi Sagittarii
Phi Sagittarii marks the joint between the handle and the lid of the Teapot, that familiar asterism that pours the Milky Way down toward the summer horizon. It is a blue-white giant 239 light-years away, having exhausted the hydrogen in its core and now drifting into stellar middle age. Without it, the Teapot's silhouette would be incomplete, and the heart of Sagittarius would lose a point of balance.
Where it is and when to see it
Phi Sagittarii lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is July, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it culminates about 12° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 22° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 83° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 63° N.
It ranks no. 9 in brightness among the 117 stars of Sagittarius in our catalogue. To find it, start from Kaus Australis, the brightest: it lies about 9° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 240 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Phi Sagittarii
- Constellation
- Sagittarius
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.17
- Distance
- 239.3 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 281.414° · Dec -26.991°
- Catalogue
- HIP 92041 · HD 173300
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Other stars in Sagittarius
Sagittarius has 117 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Kaus AustralisEpsilon Sagittarii1.79
- NunkiSigma Sagittarii2.05
- AscellaZeta Sagittarii2.60
- AlbaldahPi Sagittarii2.88
- AlnaslGamma 2 Sagittarii2.98
- Eta Sagittarii3.10
- Tau Sagittarii3.32
- Xi 2 Sagittarii3.52