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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 7:23 
Transit: 12:45 
Sunset: 18:07
wb_twilight   (Astronomical Twilight)  
What's Visible Now • Tonight Timeline
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All Constellations » Columba » 

Phact - α Columbae (alpha Columbae)

Above the horizon.  Rise: 3:00 | Tran: 5:07 | Set: 7:14
Alt: 3.96°   Az: 188.75°   Direction: South

Phact, also designated as α Columbae (alpha Columbae), is a variable and double sub-giant star of spectral class B7 in the constellation of Columba.

Phact visual magnitude is 2.64. Because of its brightness, Phact is clearly visible to the naked eye when observed from locations with dark skies, and should be also quite easily visible from light polluted areas.

Image of Phact - α Columbae (alpha Columbae) star
DSS2 image of Phact. The red arrow shows the motion of Phact during the next 10000 years (1.17 arcmin in Right Ascension and -4.33 arcmin in declination);

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

05h 40m 32s
-34° 03’ 43”
00h 42m 13s
06h 22m 46s

J2000

05h 39m 38s
-34° 04’ 27”

Galactic Coordinates

238.81°
-28.86°

Finder Chart

Finder chart Phact - α Columbae (alpha Columbae) star
Simplified finder chart for Phact - α Columbae (alpha Columbae).

Magnitude, Color, Spectral Class

2.64
Sub-giant

-1.94
B7IV
11920K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where Phact is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

HR Diagram
H-R diagram showing the position of Phact. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

Star System Properties

Phact is a visual double star which can be observed only with the help of very large telescopes. The table below shows key information about the Phact double sysyem:

2.64
12.34
9.7
13.5 arcsec

Distance, Radial Speed, Proper Motion

Phact is distant 268.09 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 35 kilometers per second.

82.24
268.09
35 km/s
0.007 arcsec/y
-0.026"/y

Alternative Designations

Phact
α Columbae
(alpha Columbae)
SAO196059
SAO196059

Visibility from Your Location

Today's Phact - α Columbae (alpha Columbae) rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, UK are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 124.1°
Max altitude: 4.5°
Azimuth: 235.9°