Ankaa

The brightest star of Phoenix, Ankaa bears the Alpha designation of that southern constellation. It is an orange K-type star with a colour index of 1.083, the warm tone of a cooler evolved star. Ankaa lies about 85 light-years from the Solar System and shines at apparent magnitude 2.40; its absolute magnitude of 0.33 indicates a fairly modest true luminosity, so its rank as the constellation's leading light reflects a combination of moderate intrinsic brightness and relative proximity. It is the most conspicuous point in an otherwise faint region of the far-southern sky, standing largely alone among dimmer neighbours. The near equality of its apparent and absolute magnitudes is characteristic of a nearby star, its brightness in Earth's sky closely tracking its true output.