Ankaa is the orange giant that leads the southern constellation Phoenix, a star past its prime whose name is the Arabic word for a legendary bird.
At a glance
| type | orange giant (class K) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 84.7 light-years (26 pc) |
| its light left it | 84.7 years ago |
| luminosity | 81.5 × the Sun |
| radius | 11.3 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 5,150 K |
| constellation | Phoenix (Phoenix) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Ankaa
Ankaa is a class K giant: a star that has exhausted the hydrogen in its core, swelled to many times the width of the Sun and cooled at its surface to an orange glow. It is the brightest star of Phoenix, and it has a companion detected through the regular shift of its spectral lines.
Phoenix is one of the southern constellations drawn by navigators in the age of the first ocean voyages to the far south, so Ankaa has no classical Greek story. Its name was attached in modern times, taken from the Arabic for a fabulous bird, matching the figure it belongs to. It sits low in the sky for most northern observers and high in the spring sky of the southern hemisphere. It is one of the stars listed for celestial navigation.
What you see in the piece
Ankaa’s orange colour in the piece is its temperature, cooler than the Sun’s. Flown out to, the bird of Phoenix loses its shape as its stars spread to their true distances.
Questions
What does the name Ankaa mean?
Ankaa comes from the Arabic name of a legendary bird, given to the star in modern times to match the constellation Phoenix.
How far away is Ankaa?
Ankaa is 84.7 light-years (26 pc) from the Sun.