Star profile
Altair
Alpha Aquilae · Aquila
Variable starWhat is Altair
Altair, «the flying eagle» in Arabic, marks the eye of the celestial Eagle and forms the Summer Triangle with Vega and Deneb. Only 16.7 light years away, it is among the closest white stars to the Sun; it spins so quickly that its equator has been measurably flattened. A faint variability adds a slow pulse to its light, turning it into a restless beacon on warm summer nights.
Where it is and when to see it
Altair lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is one of the brightest stars in the sky: visible even from a city. Its best month of the year is July: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.
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The signature wall
Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.
A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works
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A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.
Astronomical data for Altair
- Constellation
- Aquila
- Apparent magnitude
- 0.76
- Distance
- 16.7 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 297.696° · Dec 8.868°
- Catalogue
- HIP 97649 · HD 187642
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Aquila
Aquila has 72 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- TarazedGamma Aquilae2.72
- OkabZeta Aquilae2.99
- Theta Aquilae3.24
- Delta Aquilae3.36
- Lambda Aquilae3.43
- AlshainBeta Aquilae3.71
- Eta Aquilae3.87
- Epsilon Aquilae4.02