The Phoenix is a small constellation visible in the Southern Hemisphere. Along with Pavo (the Peacock), Grus (the Crane), and Tucana (the Toucan) it makes up the grouping known as the Southern Birds. Unknown in antiquity, it is one of the constellations identified (or invented) by Europeans during the Age of Discovery. The most distinguishing element of the Phoenix is the star Ankaa (Arabic for "Phoenix"), Number Two in the Nautical Almanac.
With a magnitude of 2.5, Ankaa is 85 light years from the Earth. It is an orange star much larger than our Sun but not exceptionally so, and rather further along in its stellar evolution as it has burned off much of its hydrogen and is burning helium. It is a binary star, but its companion is a white dwarf of which almost nothing is known. Ankaa is the brightest star in the Phoenix, but is outshone by the nearby stars Achernar (in the constellation Eridanus) and Fomalhaut of Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish or the Great Fish, of which the constellation Pisces is a mythological offspring.
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