Nu Phoenicis is a F-type main-sequence star in the southern constellation of Phoenix. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.95.^[2] This is a solar analogue, meaning its observed properties appear similar to the Sun, although it is somewhat more massive. At an estimated distance of around 49.5 light years,^[4] this star is located relatively near the Sun.

Quick Facts Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000, Constellation ...

Nu Phoenicis

Location of ν Phoenicis (circled)
Observation data Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation	Phoenix
Right ascension	01h 15m 11.12150s[1]
Declination	–45° 31′ 53.9954″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V)	4.95[2]
Characteristics
Spectral type	F9 V Fe+0.4[3]
U−B color index	+0.09[2]
B−V color index	+0.57[2]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)	+11.82 ± 0.15[4] km/s
Proper motion (μ)	RA: 664.28[4] mas/yr Dec.: 179.06[4] mas/yr
Parallax (π)	65.8894 ± 0.1803 mas[4]
Distance	49.5 ± 0.1 ly (15.18 ± 0.04 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)	4.07[5]
Details[5]
Mass	1.17 M☉
Radius	1.26 ± 0.04 R☉
Luminosity	2.0 ± 0.1 L☉
Surface gravity (log g)	4.31 ± 0.10 cgs
Temperature	6,066 ± 70 K
Metallicity [Fe/H]	+0.16 ± 0.06 dex
Rotational velocity (v sin i)	3.7 ± 0.5 km/s
Age	4.2[6] Gyr
Other designations
CD–46° 346, GCTP 257.00, Gl 55, HD 7570, HIP 5862, HR 370, LHS 1220, LTT 696, SAO 215428.[7]
Database references
SIMBAD	data

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Based on observations of excess infrared radiation from this star, it may possess a dust ring that extends outward several AU from an inner edge starting at 10 AU.^[8]

This is an F-type main-sequence star with a spectral type of F9V Fe+0.4,^[3] indicating it is similar to the Sun but somewhat hotter and more luminous. The notation 'Fe+0.4' indicates strong iron absorption lines; the star is indeed metal-rich, with an iron abundance 45% greater than the Sun's. Nu Phoenicis has an estimated mass of 1.17 times the solar mass and a radius of 1.26 times the solar radius. It is shining with about double the solar luminosity at an effective temperature of 6,070 K.^[5]

Nu Phoenicis has a projected rotational velocity of 3.7 km/s,^[5] and a low chromospheric activity index (log R′_HK = −4.95).^[9] These values indicate that the star is not particularly young and has an age of a few billion years; empirical calibrations estimate from the rotational velocity an age of 2.4 billion years, and from the activity index an age of 5.67 billion years.^[9] Similarly, stellar evolution models estimate an age between 1 and 6 billion years, with a more probable value of 4.2 billion years.^[6]

Nu Phoenicis has no known companions, and is considered to be a single star.^[5] As a bright star similar to the Sun, it has been targeted in a number of studies searching for planets with the radial velocity method, but no detection has been made. High-precision observations with the HARPS spectrograph show that the radial velocity of the star has no significant variability, and is constant to 2.67 m/s, a value similar to the estimated jitter level of 2.48 m/s.^[10] The star has also been included in the observations of the Anglo-Australian Planet Search, which did not find Jupiter-analogs with periods up to 6,000 days.^[11]

Nu Phoenicis emits a significant amount of infrared excess, in comparison to the expected emission from the star's photosphere, indicating it has a circumstellar debris disk that is warmed by the star and emits thermal radiation.^[8] The excess has been detected in long wavelengths, between 30^[8] and 100 μm,^[12] indicating relatively cold dust many astronomical units away from the star. Modeling the emission as a black body, the disk has an estimated temperature of 96 K and a radius of 12 AU, contributing to 0.00024% of the system's luminosity.^[12]

• List of nearest bright stars