Its apparent magnitude is 3.30,[2] meaning that it can be seen with the naked eye (see Bortle scale).
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.
[10] 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,[5] consistent with the expected distance implied by the absolute visual magnitude of a G8 giant.
[8] The new reduction of the Hipparcos data gave 0.12 ± 14.62 milliarcseconds, still unusable.
[11] Beta Phoenicis is a relatively wide visual binary consisting of two G-type giant stars, both with spectral types of G8III.