Altair (α Aql / α Aquilae / Alpha Aquilae / Atair ) is the brightest star in the constellation Aquila and the twelfth brightest star in the nighttime sky, at visual magnitude 0.77.

Altair is a vertex of the Summer Triangle. It is an "A" type or white star located 17 light years away from Earth (about 99 trillion miles), one of the closest stars visible to the naked eye.

The name "Altair" is Arabic for "the flyer", from the phrase نسر الطائر an-nasr aţ-ţā?ir "the flying eagle". The spelling "Atair" is also used frequently.

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 Beta Aquilae and Gamma Aquilae, form the well-known line of stars sometimes referred to as the shaft of Aquila.

References to the star

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In Chinese mythology, there is a love story of Qi Xi in which Niu Lang (Altair) and his two children (Aquila -β and -γ) are separated forever from their mother Zhi Nü (Vega) who is on the far side of the river, the Milky Way. The Japanese Tanabata festival is also based on this legend.

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 star Altair as its destination. So Altair it was.

In science fiction, Altair is:

• The planet Altair IV, the main setting of the book and film Forbidden Planet
• The homeworld of Harlan, an artificial lifeform in Stargate SG-1
• In Star Trek, Altair IV, the location of a prestigious hospital in the ST:DS9 episode ' Prophet Motive ', and a planet recovering from war with neighbouring Altair VI, in the ST:TOS episode ' Amok Time '.
• Altair VI, a new haven for humanity, in the novel by Ben Bova ' Winds of Altair '.
• The homeworld of the Ancients, an extinct civilization annihilated by the Shivans eight thousand years ago, in the space-combat simulation game, Freespace 2.
• The homeworld of the Alkari, one of the alien races in the Master of Orion computer game series.
• Altair V, the planet of origin for Rafael Argus in the ' 70s Buck Rogers episode "Plot to Kill A City"
• In The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, the common currency is the Altairian Dollar.
• In the novel Sunstorm, a gas giant fifteen times the mass of Jupiter was launched by the Firstborn alien race from the Altair star system on a collision course with Earth's Sun in order to trigger a devastating solar flare that would completely sterilize the Earth.

In space travel, Altair is:

• The NASA Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) designed to travel to the Moon and International Space Station.

Altair is also the name of a Soviet-made analog synthesizer. ^*

External links

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• Report on ultra high-resolution photograph.
• SolStation

Aquila constellation | Bayer objects | White main sequence stars | Arabic words

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