Stars · Star in Aquila
Star
Altair
The eagle’s eye, one of the nearest bright stars — spinning so fast its day is under ten hours, it is squashed into an egg shape.
- Constellation
- Aquila
- Designation
- α Aquilae
- Apparent magnitude
- 0.76 · 12th brightest star in the night sky
- Spectral class
- A7IV-V
- Distance
- 16.7 light-years
- Position (J2000)
- RA 19h 51m · Dec +8° 52′
A white subgiant, around 8,300 K, like Sirius and Vega. About 200× brighter than the faintest star the eye can see. The light you are seeing left in 2009.
Other skies
The Cowherd of the Qixi and Tanabata festivals, separated from the Weaver, Vega, by the river of the Milky Way.
Look for
It is flanked by two fainter stars, Tarazed and Alshain, in a short straight line — the easiest way to tell it apart in the Summer Triangle.