Beta Phoenicis

The distance to Beta Phoenicis is poorly known. The original reduction of the Hipparcos satellite's data yielded a parallax value of 16 milliarcseconds, yet its standard error was larger than the parallax value itself. An individual note in the Hipparcos catalogue provided a more likely parallax of 17.63±2.09 mas, corresponding to a distance of 185±22 light-years, consistent with the expected distance implied by the absolute visual magnitude of a G8 giant. The new reduction of the Hipparcos data gave 0.12 ± 14.62 milliarcseconds, still unusable. The General Catalogue of Trigonometric Parallaxes, an older catalogue of ground-based parallaxes, lists the parallax as 20 ± 16 milliarcseconds, corresponding to about 200 light-years (61 pc).

Beta Phoenicis is a relatively wide visual binary consisting of two G-type giant stars, both with spectral types of G8III. The two orbit each other every 170.7 years and have a relatively eccentric orbit. The stars are separated by almost one arcsecond.