Phoenix - An intermediate dwarf galaxy in the Local Group

CCD BVI photometry of the Local Group dwarf galaxy Phoenix is presented. Phoenix looks like a dwarf spheroidal with a sprinkle of young blue stars. The apparent V and I magnitudes of its red giants are used to estimate its distance. Phoenix is definitively a member of the Local Group. Its metal abundance, determined from the I vs (V-I) diagram, is found to be low at [Fe/H] = −2.0. The radius of Phoenix is comparable to the dwarf spheroidal Leo II while its absolute magnitude is similar to that of the Carina dwarf. With M V ∼ −9.9, Phoenix is as faint as the dwarf irregular galaxies LGS3 or SagDIG. Its stellar mass is less than one million solar masses