Phoenix Constellation: The Ultimate Guide

The ancient Mayan culture in Mesoamerica had one of the most advanced knowledge in astronomy of antiquity; the constellation Phoenix is sometimes represented with glyphs found in the archaeological zones of this civilization.

It is known that Phoenix is not visible from the northern hemisphere. Still, the Mayan culture settled in Central America, and part of Mexico could observe this constellation fully.

It is thought that the Maya captured the image of the constellation Phoenix combined with some other nearby constellations such as Sculptor or Eridanus.

The first representation of this constellation in a celestial atlas was in Johann Bayer's Uranometry of 1603.

The cartographer Houtman included it in his catalog of southern stars the same year under the Dutch name Den voghel Fenicx, "The Phoenix Bird," symbolizing the phoenix of classical Greek mythology.

The phoenix was a long-lived bird that regenerated from the ashes of its predecessor. However, this creature was not related to the constellation during antiquity as it is not visible from Greece.

During the seventeenth century, the constellation Phoenix underwent minor modifications in its limits, reducing its size a little and leaving it only with 469 square degrees. This made it the 37th largest constellation in the night sky.

Phoenix has not undergone significant changes since it was annexed as part of the 88 constellations officially recognized by the International Astronomy Union.

It is also known that deep-sky objects have been found significant for modern astronomy and the study of the universe within the constellation's boundaries.

Phoenix resides in the second quadrant of the Southern Hemisphere (SQ1) at latitudes between 32° N and 80° S, which means we can see the constellation in the night sky from all the countries of the southern hemisphere and very few countries of the northern hemisphere.

Phoenix constellation is visible in America, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica.

Phoenix is not visible in areas above 32° N latitude, such as Europe, Russia, the USA (except Florida), Japan, or Northern China.

Phoenix is a constellation in the south pole, so it is visible to the southern hemisphere countries almost all year round. Those above the equator can observe it only from September to November, with November being the best month.

Phoenix is essentially close to the south pole, so if you're in the Northern Hemisphere, you probably won't be able to see it unless you're below 32°N.

One way to locate the Phoenix constellation is by finding its brightest star Ankaa, the constellation star farthest from the south pole and close to the Sculptor constellation.

You can contact the constellation Eridanus to find Phoenix since both constellations are very close.

The easiest way to locate the constellation Phoenix is by drawing an imaginary straight line from the constellation of Sculptor to the star Achernar of the constellation Eridanus, in the middle of the road between the two, you will find the constellation Phoenix.

The constellations bordering Phoenix are Sculptor, Grus, Tucana, Hydrus (corner), Eridanus, and Fornax.

In addition, Phoenix belongs to the Johann Bayer family of constellations; these include Apus, Chamaeleon, Dorado, Grus, Hydrus, Indus, Musca, Pavo, Tucana, and Volans.

The constellation Phoenix officially contains 71 stars, of which 13 form the central figure of the constellation, these are Ankaa, Beta Phoenicis, Gamma Phoenicis, Epsilon Phoenicis, Delta Phoenicis, Kappa Phoenicis, Zeta Phoenicis, Eta Phoenicis, Psi Phoenicis, Mu Phoenicis, Iota Phoenicis, Lambda-1 Phoenicis, and Nu Phoenicis.

It is the brightest star in the constellation Phoenix with an apparent magnitude of +2.37. It is 77 light-years from the solar system.

Ankaa is an orange subgiant star of class K0 III, with a mass of 2.5 solar masses and about 13 solar radii, in addition to a surface temperature of 4,800 K.

With an apparent magnitude of +3.32, it is the second brightest star in Phoenix's constellation and lies 180 light-years from Earth.

It is a binary star composed of two equal yellow-orange giants of spectral type G8III.

It is the third brightest star in the constellation Phoenix with an apparent magnitude of +3.41. Gamma Phoenicis is a red giant of spectral type M0IIIa, one of the few giants of this class visible to the naked eye.

Phoenix is also known as home to several deep-sky objects. Deep-sky objects often mean star clusters, nebulae (interstellar cloud bodies), or galaxies.

In the case of Phoenix, it is rich only in galaxies, being one of the constellations with the least diversity of deep-sky bodies.

It is a dwarf barred spiral galaxy located about 12.7 million light-years away in Phoenix's constellation. With an apparent magnitude of only 11.7, it is not visible to the naked eye and can only be seen with telescopes.

• NGC 37: It is a lenticular galaxy of apparent magnitude 14.66. It is approximately 137,000 light-years in diameter and  12.9 billion years old.
• Robert's Quartet: It is a cumulus of galaxies composed of the irregular galaxy NGC 87 and three spiral galaxies, NGC 88, NGC 89, and NGC 92 galaxies located about 160 million light-years away that are in the process of colliding and merging.  They are within a radius of 1.6 arc minutes, which corresponds to about 75,000 light-years.
• HLX-1 is an intermediate-mass black hole, the first of its kind identified. It is thought to be a remnant of a dwarf galaxy absorbed into a collision with the galaxy ESO 243-49. Before its discovery, this kind of black hole was only a hypothesis.

At least seven meteor showers occur in the region comprising the constellation phoenix region. The most notable and important is the so-called July Phoenicids.

This meteor shower occurs from July 9 to 17, and its peak of maximum observation occurs on July 14.

• In the cultures of the aborigines of Australia, the constellation Phoenix is represented as a bird Emu, which is native to the region and bears some resemblance to an ostrich.
• It is also known that in the cultures of South America, such as the Inca, they had a catalog with all the constellations, and it is possible that what we now call the Phoenix constellation appears in these catalogs but with other names.

• Phoenix is a constellation located primarily in the southern hemisphere; its name comes from the mythological creature of the Greek culture "Fenix" that consists of a bird capable of reincarnating from its ashes.
• Phoenix is one of the minor constellations, and therefore there are very few myths associated with it.
• Phoenix is a southern constellation; for that reason, it does not appear in the writings of most cultures of the northern hemisphere, such as the Greek or the Egyptian.
• Phoenix is one of the closest constellations to the south pole, so it is easy to find for people in the southern hemisphere. The best month to observe it is in November.
• The easiest way to locate the constellation Phoenix is by drawing an imaginary straight line from the constellation of Sculptor to the star Achernar of the constellation Eridanus, in the middle of the road between the two, you will find the constellation Phoenix.
• The brightest star in the constellation Phoenix is Ankaa (α Phoenicis), with an apparent magnitude of +2.37.
• The most notable deep-sky body in Phoenix's constellation is NGC 625; a dwarf barred spiral galaxy.
• The strongest meteor shower in Phoenix is the "July Phoenicids."

1. https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/phoenix-constellation/
2. https://www.universeguide.com/constellation/phoenix#meteorshowers
3. http://www.seasky.org/constellations/constellation-phoenix.html
4. https://star-name-registry.com/constellations/phoenix
5. https://theskylive.com/sky/constellations/phoenix-constellation