Phact

Definition

Phact is the brightest star of the constellation Columba (the Dove), designated Alpha Columbae, lying well south of the ecliptic below the constellation Lepus and below the southern foot of Orion. The Arabic name al-fākhita (الفاختة, 'the ring-dove') names the dove-figure of the constellation. In the Egyptian archaeoastronomical reconstruction Phact marks the southern terminus of the was-sceptre of the constellation Sah (the Egyptian Orion-figure) per Locher's 1993 reading.

In Tradition

In the Egyptian astronomical tradition recovered by modern archaeoastronomy, Phact functions as a southern boundary anchor in Locher's reconstruction of the figure of Sah. The was-sceptre of the Sah-figure runs from its head at Saiph (Kappa Orionis) south through the figure of Lepus and into Columba, with the base of the sceptre reaching as far south as Phact. The star thus sits on the southern boundary of the Egyptian Sah-constellation rather than functioning as an independent named per-degree star in the Hellenistic per-sign catalogs.

In Practice

Practitioners encounter Phact primarily through two reading-frames. In the Egyptian archaeoastronomical reconstruction, Phact anchors the southern reach of Sah — the Egyptian Orion-figure — at the base of the was-sceptre that extends from Saiph through Lepus and Columba; this is a constellational-boundary use rather than a per-degree paranatellonta use. In the modern fixed-star tradition the same star is read by paranatella and parallel-of-declination because its far-southern position places it well outside the standard zodiacal-star reading-band. The far-south declination is the key practical fact: Phact rarely conjoins natal points by direct longitude (its ecliptic longitude is determined only by projection), so practitioners working with the star typically use angular or paran-style readings against the Ascendant or Midheaven instead.

Historical Origin

Phact is named in Belmonte and Lull's 2018 Astronomy of Ancient Egypt as part of Locher's 1993 reconstruction of the Egyptian constellation Sah, where the star marks the southern base of the figure's was-sceptre. Locher's reconstruction is a modern archaeoastronomical reading of New Kingdom astronomical ceilings (Senenmut tomb c. 1470 BCE; Ramesses VI tomb) and Roman-Egyptian Heter coffin (AD 125). The Arabic name al-fākhita is medieval Islamic-astronomical, inherited into the Western fixed-star tradition through medieval Latin transmission.

Etymology

Origin: Arabic. Meaning: From Arabic al-fākhita (الفاختة), 'the ring-dove' — the name of the constellation Columba (the Dove) inherited into the Western tradition for its alpha star..

Further Reading

• Juan Antonio Belmonte & José Lull, Astronomy of Ancient Egypt
• Bernadette Brady, Brady's Book of Fixed Stars
• Vivian E. Robson, The Fixed Stars and Constellations in Astrology