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Aquila (abbr. Aql, gen. Aquilae)
The Eagle (of Zeus); a distinctive constellation on the celestial equator that spreads across many rich fields. Due to a lane of obscuring dust known as the Great Rift, the Milky Way splits in two through this constellation and also through Ophiuchus. Aquila has been a fruitful hunting ground for nova-seekers, producing four since 1899, including two of the brightest on record. One of these, in AD 389, became as bright as Venus; the other, in 1918, outshone Altair. See below for details of the constellation's brightest stars and interesting deep sky objects.
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| Aquila. © 2005 Torsten Bronger. Copied here under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 4.0 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Star | Visual mag. |
Abs. mag. |
Spectral type |
Distance (lt-yr) |
R.A. (h m s) | Dec. ( ° ' '' ) |
| Alpha (Altair) | 0.76 | 2.20 | A7V | 16.8 | 19 50 47 | +08 52 06 |
| Gamma (Tarazed) | 2.72 | -3.03 | K3II | 460 | 19 46 15 | +10 36 48 |
| Zeta (Dheneb) | 2.99 | 0.95 | A0Vn | 83 | 19 05 24 | +13 51 48 |
| Theta | 3.24 | -1.49 | B9.5III | 287 | 20 11 18 | -00 49 17 |
| Delta | 3.36 | 2.42 | F3IV | 50 | 19 25 30 | +03 06 53 |
| Lambda (Althalimain) | 3.43 | 0.51 | B9Vn | 125 | 19 06 15 | -04 52 57 |
| Beta (Alshain) | 3.71 | 3.02 | G8IV | 45 | 19 55 19 | +06 24 24 |
| Eta Aquilae | 3.87 | -3.91v | F6Ibv | 1,170 | 19 52 28 | +01 00 20 |
| Other objects of interest | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Type of Object | Notes |
| GRS 1915+105 | star | A star system containing the most massive known stellar black hole |
| NGC 6803 | planetary nebula | A small bright ring. Magnitude 11.4; diameter 6"; R.A. 19h 29m, Dec. +09° 58' |
| NGC 6891 | planetary nebula | A bright disk and faint ring. Magnitude 12; diameter 1.2'; R.A. 20h 13m, Dec. +12° 35' |
| NGC 6709 | open cluster | A loose cluster arranged in a diamond formation with a bright star at each apex. Magnitude 6.7; diameter 13'; R.A. 18h 49m, Dec. +10° 17' |
| Constellations |
| Andromeda | Antlia | Apus | Aquarius | Aquila | Ara | Aries | Auriga | Bootes | Caelum | Camelopardalis | Cancer | Canes Venatici | Canis Major | Canis Minor | Capricornus | Carina | Cassiopeia | Centaurus | Cepheus | Cetus | Chamaeleon | Circinus | Columba | Coma Berenices | Corona Austrina | Corona Borealis | Corvus | Crater | Crux | Cygnus | Delphinus | Dorado | Draco | Equuleus | Eridanus | Fornax | Gemini | Grus | Hercules | Horologium | Hydra | Hydrus | Indus | Lacerta | Leo | Leo Minor | Lepus | Libra | Lupus | Lynx | Lyra | Mensa | Microscopium | Monoceros | Musca | Norma | Octans | Ophiuchus | Orion | Pavo | Pegasus | Perseus | Phoenix | Pictor | Pisces | Piscis Austrinus | Puppis | Pyxis | Reticulum | Sagitta | Sagittarius | Scorpius | Sculptor | Scutum | Serpens | Sextans | Taurus | Telescopium | Triangulum | Triangulum Australe | Tucana | Ursa Major | Ursa Minor | Vela | Virgo | Volans | Vulpecula |
Related categories
• NOTABLE STARS
• NEBULAE AND STAR CLUSTERS
• GALAXIES
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