Altair
A white star that spins so fast it bulges at its equator, one corner of the Summer Triangle.
Tonight from
Rise, highest point and set are worked out on your device for the place above.
What it is
- Brightness
- Magnitude 0.76, the 12th brightest star in the night sky
- Distance
- 16.7 light years
- Kind of star
- White subgiant, spectral type A7 IV-V
- Light it gives out
- About 11 times the Sun’s, in visible light
- Constellation
- Aquila, where it is α Aquilae
- Catalogue number
- HIP 97649
Figures from HYG database 4.1 (Hipparcos, Yale Bright Star and Gliese catalogues), CC BY-SA 4.0. All sources
Near it in the sky
- Dumbbell NebulaA planetary nebula in Vulpecula, about a fist away.
- AlbireoAn orange bright giant in Cygnus, about a hand span away.
- Wild Duck ClusterAn open cluster in Scutum, about a hand span away.
- M 15A globular cluster in Pegasus, about a hand span away.
- Ring NebulaA planetary nebula in Lyra, about a hand span away.