Phoenix - The Phoenix

Learn about the constellation Phoenix - The Phoenix, location, facts, mythology, meteor showers and deep space objects.

Phoenix is a minor southern constellation, introduced by Dutch navigators Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman, and popularized by Johann Bayer's Uranometria in 1603.

Location: Southern Constellation 0h RA -50° Dec

Phoenix is a minor constellation in the southern sky. Named after the mythical phoenix, it was first depicted on a celestial atlas by Johann Bayer in his 1603 Uranometria. The brightest star, Alpha Phoenicis, is named Ankaa, an Arabic word meaning 'the Phoenix'. It is an orange giant of apparent magnitude 2.4.

Phoenix is the radiant of two annual meteor showers. The Phoenicids, also known as the December Phoenicids, were first observed on 3 December 1887. It peaks around 4-5 December, though is not seen every year.

Mythology

Being a modern constellation there is no mythology surrounding The Phoenix. It was the largest of the twelve constellations established by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman.

Deep Space Objects

The constellation does not lie on the galactic plane of the Milky Way, and there are no prominent star clusters. There are no Messier Objects in the constellation of Phoenix.

Phoenix Dwarf galaxy (NGC 625) is an irregular dwarf galaxy which has an apparent magnitude of 11.7, and it is part of the Sculptor Group of galaxies.