Altair Altair, or Alpha Aquilae, is the brightest star in the constellation Aquila, the Eagle. It lies only 16.7 light years from Earth. With the bright stars Deneb and Vega, Altair (Arabic for “flying eagle”) forms the prominent asterism of the Summer Triangle.

It is an A-type star 16.6 light-years from Earth.Altair rotates at the fast speed of more than 200 km (120 miles) per second. Technical Stuff: Proper Name: Altair Scientific Name: Alpha Aquilae Constellation: Aquila Asterisms (part of): The Summer Triangle Distance from Earth: ~16.7 lightyears Apparent Magnitude (from Earth): 0.76 Absolute Magnitude (if it were 32.6 ly away): 2.22 Sun’s Apparent Magnitude As Seen From Altair: 3.38 Luminosity: 10.6 solar luminosities (10.6 times as bright as our sun) Altair has a spectral type of A7V, a surface temperature of 7500° Kelvin and a luminosity 10.6 times the Sun.

Altair, also called Alpha Aquilae, the brighest star in the northern constellation Aquila and the 12th brightest star in the sky. Altair Its absolute magnitude is 2.2 and its distance is 16.8 light years. The star is called Altair; the absolute magnitude is estimated at 2.21. The star is called Altair; the absolute magnitude is estimated at 2.21. The Equinox J2000 equatorial coordinates are RA = 19h 50m 47.0s, Dec = +08° 52' 06".

It is moving relatively fast against the background of distant stars and will shift by as much as a degree over the next 5,000 years. Altair is a white A star that, at a distance of under 17 light-years, is one of the nearer solar neighbors. The star has a visual magnitude of 0.77. Apparent magnitude is 0.77 Absolute magnitude is 2.21 Wikipedia lists its visual magnitude as 0.77.