Editing Phoenix (constellation) (section)

==History==

[[File:Phoenix in Doppelmayr's Atlas Coelestis.jpg|250px|thumbnail|left|The constellation Phoenix as depicted in [[Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr]]'s ''Atlas Coelestis'', ca. 1742]]
[[File:Johann Bayer - Uraniometria - Southern Birds.jpg|thumb|250px|The "southern birds", as depicted in [[Johann Bayer]]'s ''[[Uranometria]]''. Phoenix is on the lower left.]]
Phoenix was the largest of the 12 constellations established by [[Petrus Plancius]] from the observations of [[Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser]] and [[Frederick de Houtman]]. It first appeared on a 35-cm diameter celestial globe published in 1597 (or 1598) in Amsterdam by Plancius with [[Jodocus Hondius]]. The first depiction of this constellation in a celestial atlas was in [[Johann Bayer]]'s ''[[Uranometria]]'' of 1603.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/bayer-southern.html | title=Bayer's Southern Star Chart |author=Ridpath, Ian |author-link=Ian Ridpath|publisher=self-published | access-date= August 15, 2013}}</ref> De Houtman included it in his southern star catalog the same year under the Dutch name ''Den voghel Fenicx'', "The Bird Phoenix",<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/startales1c.html#houtman | title=Frederick de Houtman's catalogue |author=Ridpath, Ian|publisher=self-published | access-date= August 15, 2013}}</ref> symbolising the [[Phoenix (mythology)|phoenix]] of classical mythology.<ref name=ridpathphe>{{cite web| url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/phoenix.html | title=Phoenix – the Phoenix |author=Ridpath, Ian |publisher=self-published | access-date= August 18, 2013}}</ref> One name of the brightest star [[Alpha Phoenicis]]—Ankaa—is derived from the {{Langx|ar|العنقاء|translit=al-‘anqā’|lit=the phoenix}}, and was coined sometime after 1800 in relation to the constellation.<ref>{{cite book| author= Kunitsch, Paul| author2= Smart, Tim |date= 2006 |title=A Dictionary of Modern Star names: A Short Guide to 254 Star Names and Their Derivations |publisher=Sky Publishing Corp |location= Cambridge, Massachusetts |page=49 |isbn=978-1-931559-44-7}}</ref>

Celestial historian Richard Allen noted that unlike the other constellations introduced by Plancius and [[La Caille]], Phoenix has actual precedent in ancient astronomy, as the Arabs saw this formation as representing young ostriches, ''Al Ri'āl'', or as a griffin or eagle.<ref name=allen/> In addition, the same group of stars was sometimes imagined by the Arabs as a boat, ''Al Zaurak'', on the nearby river Eridanus.<ref name="motz"/> He observed, "the introduction of a Phoenix into modern astronomy was, in a measure, by adoption rather than by invention."<ref name=allen/>

The Chinese incorporated Phoenix's brightest star, Ankaa (Alpha Phoenicis), and stars from the adjacent constellation [[Sculptor (constellation)|Sculptor]] to depict ''Bakui'', a net for catching birds.<ref name=ridpathphe/> Phoenix and the neighbouring constellation of [[Grus (constellation)|Grus]] together were seen by [[Julius Schiller]] as portraying [[Aaron]] the High Priest.<ref name=allen/> These two constellations, along with nearby [[Pavo (constellation)|Pavo]] and [[Tucana]], are called the Southern Birds.<ref name="binocs">{{cite book|last=Moore, Patrick|title=Exploring the Night Sky with Binoculars|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, United Kingdom|date=2000|pages=48|isbn=978-0521793902|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jvbtl2Vyxm4C&q=phoenix+pavo+grus+tucana&pg=PA48}}</ref>