
Star profile
Epsilon Aquilae
What is Epsilon Aquilae
Epsilon Aquilae, known as Deneb al Okab Borealis —«the northern eagle's tail» in its Arabic designation— is an orange giant 155 light-years away that hides an unseen partner. Every 1,271 days the two complete an eccentric orbit, and only the periodic shift of spectral lines betrays the second. The system is also drifting toward the Sun at 46 km/s.
Where it is and when to see it
Epsilon Aquilae lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is July, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it culminates about 54° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 64° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 41° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 75° S.
It ranks no. 9 in brightness among the 72 stars of Aquila in our catalogue. To find it, start from Altair, the brightest: it lies about 14° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 160 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Epsilon Aquilae
- Constellation
- Aquila
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.02
- Distance
- 155.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 284.906° · Dec 15.068°
- Catalogue
- HIP 93244 · HD 176411
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Other stars in Aquila
Aquila has 72 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- AltairAlpha Aquilae0.76
- TarazedGamma Aquilae2.72
- OkabZeta Aquilae2.99
- Lambda Aquilae3.43
- AlshainBeta Aquilae3.71
- Eta Aquilae3.87
- 12 Aquilae4.02
- 71 Aquilae4.31