Phact is the brightest star of Columba, the Dove, a hot blue-white star whose Arabic name refers to a ring dove.
At a glance
| type | blue-white star (class B) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 261 light-years (80.1 pc) |
| its light left it | 261 years ago |
| luminosity | 1,090 × the Sun |
| radius | 6.52 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 13,000 K |
| constellation | Columba (Dove) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Phact
Phact is a hot blue-white star, larger and far brighter than the Sun. It spins rapidly, and like other stars of its kind it has shed a thin disc of gas around its equator that shows up as bright lines in its spectrum.
Columba is a small constellation south of Lepus and Canis Major, pictured as the dove released from the ark. Phact, its brightest star, takes its name from the Arabic word for the ring dove. Wazn lies close beside it in the figure.
What you see in the piece
Phact and Wazn look like a pair in the Dove; flown out to, Wazn is much nearer the Sun, and the bird loses its head from its body.
Questions
What is the brightest star in Columba?
Phact is the brightest star in Columba, a blue-white star 1,090 times as luminous as the Sun.