Aquila constellation is located in the northern sky, near the celestial equator. The constellation’s name means “the eagle” in Latin. The constellation represents the eagle of the Roman god Jupiter in mythology. It was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century.
Aquila is home to two very famous stars, Altair and Tarazed, as well as to several interesting deep sky objects: the planetary nebulae NGC 6803, NGC 6804, NGC 6781 and the Phantom Streak Nebula (NGC 6741), the open clusters NGC 6709 and NGC 6755, and the dark nebula B143-4.
FACTS, LOCATION & MAP
Aquila is the 22nd biggest star constellation in the sky, occupying an area of 652 square degrees in the fourth quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ4). It can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -75°. The neighboring constellations are Aquarius, Capricornus, Delphinus, Hercules, Ophiuchus, Sagitta, Sagittarius, Scutum, and Serpens Cauda.
Aquila has three stars brighter than magnitude 3.00 and two stars located within 10 parsecs (32.6 light years) of Earth. The brightest star in the constellation is Altair, Alpha Aquilae (spectral class A7 V), which is also the 12th brightest star in the sky. Altair is also the nearest star in Aquila, at a distance of only 16.77 light years from Earth.
Aquila has nine stars with known planets. HD 179079, a G-type subgiant (G5IV), has an orbiting planet that was discovered in 2009. HD 183263 (G2IV) has two planets, discovered in 2005 and 2008. Xi Aquilae, a red clump giant (G9 III) also known by the name Libertas, has a confirmed exoplanet, named Fortitudo, that was discovered in 2008. A planet orbiting the star HD 192263, an orange dwarf (K2V), was discovered on September 28, 1999, and one orbiting the yellow subgiant HD 192699 (G8IV) was announced in April 2007. Other stars with confirmed planets include COROT-10 (K1V) and COROT-8 (K1V).
Aquila does not contain any Messier objects. There are two meteor showers associated with the constellation: the June Aquilids and the Epsilon Aquilids.
Aquila belongs to the Hercules family of constellations, together with Ara, Centaurus, Corona Australis, Corvus, Crater, Crux, Cygnus, Hercules, Hydra, Lupus, Lyra, Ophiuchus, Sagitta, Scutum, Serpens, Sextans, Triangulum Australe, and Vulpecula.
MYTH
In Greek mythology, Aquila is identified as the eagle that carried Zeus’ thunderbolts and was once dispatched by the god to carry Ganymede, the young Trojan boy Zeus desired, to Olympus to be the cup bearer of the gods. Ganymede is represented by the neighbouring constellation Aquarius.
In another story, the eagle is found guarding the arrow of Eros (represented by the constellation Sagitta), which hit Zeus and made him love-struck.
In yet another myth, Aquila represents Aphrodite disguised as an eagle, pretending to pursue Zeus in the form of a swan, so that Zeus’ love interest, the goddess Nemesis, would give him shelter. In the story, Zeus later placed the images of the eagle and the swan among the stars to commemorate the event.
The name of the brightest star in the constellation, Altair, is derived from the Arabic al-nasr al-ta’ir, which means “flying eagle” or “vulture.” Ptolemy called the star Aetus, which is Latin for “eagle.” Similarly, both Babylonians and Sumerians called Altair “the eagle star.”
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