Aquila, the Eagle, is a constellation on the summer Milky Way, its bright star Altair flanked by two fainter stars and forming a corner of the Summer Triangle.
At a glance
| stars in the figure | 11 |
|---|---|
| nearest star of the figure | Altair, 16.7 light-years (5.13 pc) |
| farthest star of the figure | Eta Aquilae, 1,380 light-years (424 pc) |
| depth | the farthest is 83 × farther than the nearest |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Aquila
Aquila is the eagle of Greek myth that carried the thunderbolts of Zeus. Its brightest star, Altair, sits between Tarazed and Alshain in a short, distinctive line. Altair spins so fast that it is visibly flattened, wider at the equator than pole to pole, and it was among the first stars other than the Sun to have its surface imaged.
The figure lies across the Milky Way where the Aquila Rift, a long band of nearby dust, darkens the stars behind it. Eta Aquilae, in the eagle’s tail, is a bright pulsating star of the Cepheid kind, whose steady rhythm of brightening and fading can be followed by eye over a few nights. Aquila is best seen on northern summer and autumn evenings, and straddles the celestial equator.
What you see in the piece
Flown out to, Altair is a close neighbour of the Sun and pulls far forward, while Eta Aquilae lies much deeper: of all the figures here, few stretch so far between their nearest and farthest stars.
Questions
Why is Altair flattened?
Altair rotates very fast, so its equator bulges outward. Interferometers have imaged its surface and shown the shape directly.
How far away are the stars of Aquila?
They range from Altair, 16.7 light-years (5.13 pc), to Eta Aquilae, 1,380 light-years (424 pc): the farthest is 83 × farther than the nearest.