Tarazed

Its story

Tarazed is a luminous class-K giant burning 394 light-years away in the constellation Aquila. Its faintly orange tint contrasts with the intense white of Altair, its much closer neighbour, and together they form one of the most recognisable visual pairs of the northern summer. The name comes from the Persian «shahin tarazed», the striking balance, an old reference to the bird of prey that in medieval Persian astronomy flew over the ecliptic in search of quarry.