Altair

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For other uses, see Altair (disambiguation).

High-res photo of Altair

Altair (α Aquilae) is a star in the Aquila constellation. It is a white star of visual magnitude 0.77, the twelfth brightest star in the skies. It is a vertex of the Summer Triangle.

Located 17 light years away from Earth, it is one of the closest stars visible to the naked eye. The name Altair comes from the Arabic words al-nasr al-tair, which mean the flying eagle.

Altair is most notable for its extremely rapid rotation; by measuring the width of its spectral lines, it was determined that its equator does a complete rotation in about 6 1/2 hours (various other sources give 9 hours, or 10.4 hours). In comparison, our star, the Sun, requires a little more than 25 days for a complete rotation. As a result of its rapid rotation, Altair is oblate: its equatorial diameter is at least 14 percent greater than its polar diameter.

Altair, along with β and γ Aquilae, form the well-known line of stars sometimes referred to as the shaft of Aquila.

References to the star

In Chinese mythology, there is a love story of Qi Qiao Jie in which Niu Lang (Altair) and his two children (Aquila -β and -γ) are separated forever from their mother Zhi Nu (Vega) who is on the far side of the river, the Milky Way.

In astrology, the star Altair was ill-omened, portending danger from reptiles.

In computing, an important early microcomputer, the Altair 8800, was named after the star because the daughter of the man responsible for coming up with a suitable name, when asked what she thought the computer should be called, was watching an episode of Star Trek where the Starship Enterprise had the Altair as its destination. So Altair it was.

In science fiction, Altair is: