[15] In Hawaii, Altair was called Humu, translated to English as "to sew, to bind together parts of a fishhook." The people of Hawaii called it Humu, the people of the Tuamotus called it Tukituki ("Pound with a hammer")[20] - they named Beta Aquilae Nga Tangata ("The Men")[21] - and the people of Pukapuka called Altair Turu and used it as a navigational star. Aquila was one of the 48 constellations described by the second-century astronomer Ptolemy. The Summer Triangle at about 10 p.m. local time in July from mid-northern latitudes. Altair . Aquila is a constellation on the celestial equator. Because this star is one of the closest to Earth, it can be viewed by the naked eye. [16] Humu-ma was said to influence the astrologers. It was used differently in different Māori calendars, being the star of February and March in one version and March and April in the other. [19] Altair was commonly named among Polynesian peoples, as well. The brightest star in Aquila is Altair (Arabic: “Flying Eagle”), the 12th brightest star in the sky. Altair is also known as Alpha Aquilae, and it is the brightest star in the constellation Aquila the Eagle. During the days in the late 1800s, Robert E. and John Stafford were in the cattle business, and had a large ranching operation near the present Altair. Three great (or not so great) powers have used it as … An Altair train station was built, along with a telegraph office. The cattle business remained strong, and the small Altair community had 200 people at its peak, in 1960, along with two stores; a cotton gin; a blacksmith shop; a lumberyard; and a hotel. It was later abandoned. Aquila is a constellation on the celestial equator. Leo has been a great lion in the night sky across almost all … The Northern Cross is a prominent asterism formed by the brightest stars in the constellation Cygnus. The nearest star, Gliese 674 … As I crossed the old Colorado River Bridge near Altair, the bright stars were popping out above. The author also draws a comparison to the classical stories of Antinous and Ganymede. Altair (Alpha Aquilae) is the brightest star in the constellation Aquila, and the 12th most luminous in the entire night sky. On a clear Texas night, as we study the stars in the big sky above the winding Colorado River, it can be seen that one star stands out from all the rest. This is a story of an old Chinese legend about two stars, Altair and Vega, in the constellations Aquila and Lyra. [12] According to Berio, the identification of Aquila as an Egyptian constellation, and not merely Graeco-Babylonian, is corroborated by the Daressy Zodiac. However, the town name was changed between 1888 and 1890 to Altair, or “the brightest star,” when it was learned that there was already a town and post office near Houston, named Stafford, in Ft. Bend County. The name Altair comes to us from the Arabic, based on observations by sky gazers who saw a bird in that star … Leo. … It lies at a distance of approximately 16 light … Latin for “lion” Best viewed in: April. This system was in the general vicinity of Antares, Omicron Ceti and Janus VI. Passengers came and went, and multiple cattle cars carried livestock to market. Eclipses plus the planets Jupiter out to Pluto have the most marked effect in … Altair was also the star that ruled the annual sweet potato harvest. Hevelius determined 23 stars in the first[4] and 19 in the second. Altair is from a part of the Arabic name for the constellation; but occasionally is written Althair, Athair , Attair, and Atair; this last readers … It lies at a distance of approximately 16 light years from Earth, and its color is pale yellow. Altair became a gravel production area, and was home to the Skull Creek Ranch; a motel and popular bowling alley; Marvin’s famous Blue Goose Restaurant and Hunting Club; and the large Kallina Rice Dryer. Altair is a main star in the constellation Aquila and makes up the constellation outline. It is the biggest and the most massive structure in the Universe known. Altair (Alpha Aquilae) can be seen in its home constellation located in the fourth quadrant of the Northern hemisphere, specifically between latitudes of +90 and -75 degrees. [4][3], The Greek Aquila is probably based on the Babylonian constellation of the Eagle, but is sometimes mistakenly thought as a seagull which is located in the same area as the Greek constellation. The star has a visual magnitude of 0.77. The large Stafford Ranch House was a county icon for generations, located between Altair and Columbus. A waning red sunset was falling from sight, and the water rushed below. Cottonseed was shipped, and goods were brought in to the growing little community. "Humu" also refers to the hole by which parts of a hook are bound together. Altair is the brightest star of constellation Aquila the Eagle at 1º 47′ Aquarius. Altair is also the nearest star … [22] The Māori people named Altair Poutu-te-rangi, "Pillar of the Sky", because of its important position in their cosmology. Altair. It is a planet between a star and earth that brings out the fixed stars potential. The star marks the eagle’s head. [1], In the Chinese love story of Qi Xi, Niu Lang (Altair) and his two children (β and γ Aquilae) are separated forever from their wife and mother Zhi Nu (Vega), who is on the far side of the river, the Milky Way. Ara contains two stars brighter than magnitude 3.00 and three stars located within 10 parsecs (32.6 light years) of Earth. Altair is a bright star in the northern summer sky that is one of the three stars that form an … The Altair town and post office were originally named Stafford. [17] Pao-toa was the name for the entire constellation in the Marquesas Islands; the name meant "Fatigued Warrior". Altair definition, a first-magnitude star in the constellation Aquila. Altair, or Alpha Aquilae, is the brightest star in the constellation Aquila, the Eagle. Click here to read Colorado County Citizen. Name On December 13, 2007, NASA's Lunar Surface Access Module was retitled "Altair", after the 12th brightest star in the northern hemisphere's night sky, Altair in the constellation Aquila. In 1890, a town site was laid out, and a branch of the Texas & New Orleans Railroad arrived. Altair was the starting point for the annual Texas Trail Ride of 130 miles to promote the San Antonio Livestock Exposition and Rodeo, introduced in 1954 by Altair’s Ed Johnson, and a group of ranching friends. However, by September’s end, Altair will approach the meridian as … … Its name is “Altair.” Its meaning is “the brightest star.” From this star, Altair, Texas got its name. Altair is at a crossroads where highways from Eagle Lake; El Campo; Garwood; Sheridan; Rock Island; and Columbus converge. The Colorado River Western Railroad was chartered in 1955, to build out from Altair and the older Texas & New Orleans Railroad to a strip mine for gravel, about nine miles away, to its headquarters near Alleyton. [1], *α Aql (Altair) is the brightest star in this constellation and one of the closest naked-eye stars to Earth at a distance of 17 light-years. " Altair is the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila (the Eagle). On the island of Futuna, it was called Kau-amonga, meaning "Suspended Burden". See more. Eagle Lake Remembers By Dr. Sandra C. Thomas, Community Lenten luncheons donate to EL food pantry. Altair definition is - the brightest star in the constellation Aquila. A bright nova was observed in Aquila in 1918 (Nova Aquilae 1918) and briefly shone brighter than Altair, the brightest star in Aquila. Population fell to 70 in the 1970s, and continued to drop into the 1990s, with only about 30 people now. [1], Ptolemy catalogued 19 stars jointly in this constellation and in the now obsolete constellation of Antinous, which was named in the reign of the emperor Hadrian (AD 117–138), but sometimes erroneously attributed to Tycho Brahe, who catalogued 12 stars in Aquila and seven in Antinous. The constellation Aquila (the Eagle, and pronounced "ah-QUILL-uh", which lies somewhat close to the nose of Cygnus, has the bright star Altair ("al-TARE") at its heart. The constellation is best seen in the northern summer, as it is located along the Milky Way. But, in fact, the constellation name was used as early as 1730, well before Eagle Lake was named. With the bright stars Deneb and Vega, Altair (Arabic for “flying eagle”) forms … It was located in south central Colorado County. [18] Also, Polynesian constellations incorporated the stars of modern Aquila. In Chinese astronomy, ζ Aql is located within the Heavenly Market Enclosure (天市垣, Tiān Shì Yuán), and the other stars of the constellation are placed within the Black Tortoise of the North (北方玄武, Běi Fāng Xuán Wǔ). It lies only 16.7 light years from Earth. By 1887, it had 100 people, and a schoolhouse. Once there was a man named Altair… It remains at the crossroads of the old cattle trails, and now school bus trails, as the primary location of the Rice Consolidated Independent School District. While Altair still shines as the brightest star in the Aquila constellation, who knows, at its location at this busy Texas crossroads, it may yet rise again as the brightest star on the Colorado County horizon. (TNG episode: "Yesterday's Enterprise", TNG reference: The Continuing Mission) Ruins on the surface of at least one world in this system indicated that the Preservers once inhabited this planet whilst certain locations show evidence that the Vegan Tyranny also had a connection to Altair. With an apparent magnitude of 0.76, it is the brightest star … The defining vertices of this imaginary triangle are at Altair, Deneb, and … The Aquila constellation cast its light onto the sandy river waters. The 10 stars are arranged to represent the constellation Aquila, or the eagle, of which the brightest star is Altair, translated as “the flying one.” The “A” in the word “Altair” is based on NASA’s original mission … Its name is Latin for 'eagle' and it represents the bird that carried Zeus/Jupiter's thunderbolts in Greek-Roman mythology. With the nearby bright stars Deneb and Vega, Altair forms the prominent asterism of the Summer Triangle. The Summer Triangle mapped on a star chart The Summer Triangle is an astronomical asterism in the northern celestial hemisphere. [14] Under the sign of Sagittarius is the falcon of Horus, presumably because Aquila rises with Sagittarius. NASA's Pioneer 11 space probe, which flew by Jupiter and Saturn in the 1970s, is expected to pass near the star Lambda (λ) Aquilae in about 4 million years. Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website. The Sun joins Altair on January 22. Map of the constellations Articles Make a planisphere Make a medieval astrolabe Precession of the equinoxes Open-source software Cambridge pub map ... Altair (Star) Color … The area was a crossroads for cattle driving and later shipping. Because of this location, many clusters and nebulae are found within its borders, but they are dim and galaxies are few. Along with the stars Vega in … [13] It depicts an outer ring showing the Sphaera Graeca, the familiar Hellenistic zodiac, while the middle ring depicts the Sphaera Barbarica or foreigner's zodiac with the zodiacal signs of the Egyptian dodekaoros which were also recorded by Teucros of Babylon. Altair is a A7IV-V subgiant star based on the spectral type that was recorded in the Hipparcos star catalogue. Its name is Latin for 'eagle' and it represents the bird that carried Zeus/Jupiter's thunderbolts in Greek-Roman mythology. What’s more, stargazers know Altair as part of an entirely different and much larger – … It is often held to represent the eagle which held Zeus's/Jupiter's thunderbolts in Greco-Roman mythology. Its brightest star, Altair, is one vertex of the Summer Triangle asterism. Altair: Altair is currently approaching the 2nd degree of Aquarius in the tropical zodiac, a pale yellow dwarf star it is the brightest star in the constellation Aquila, found in the neck of the eagle it’s also the star at the southern apex of the larger star … Summer Triangle in northern autumn In the east after dark on these July evenings, look near the horizon for Altair, the brightest star in the constellation Aquila the Eagle. A waning red sunset was falling from sight, and the water rushed below. Its name comes from the Arabic phrase al-nasr al-tair, meaning "the flying eagle". [citation needed], According to Gavin White, the Babylonian Eagle carried the constellation called the Dead Man in its talons. Alpha (α) Aquila , Altair, is a pale yellow star in the neck of the Eagle. Altair belongs to the spectral class A7 V, which means that it is a blue-white main sequence star. [23], The 41 additional constellations added in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Urania's Mirror c.1825 – Ian Ridpath's Old Star Atlases", "The Celestial River: Identifying the Ancient Egyptian Constellations", "Boll, Franz: Sphaera: neue griechische Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Sternbilder (Leipzig, 1903)", The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Aquila, Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (over 150 medieval and early modern images of Aquila), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aquila_(constellation)&oldid=983319766, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2019, Articles needing additional references from November 2009, All articles needing additional references, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2011, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 13 October 2020, at 15:27. The brightest star in the constellation is Beta Arae. [5], Aquila, which lies in the Milky Way, contains many rich starfields and has been the location of many novae. ; Based on the spectral type (A7IV-V) of the star, the star's … Altair Facts. [citation needed], In Hinduism, the constellation Aquila is identified with the half-eagle half-human deity Garuda.[10][11]. Aquila is also associated with the eagle that kidnapped Ganymede, a son of one of the kings of Troy (associated with Aquarius), to Mount Olympus to serve as cup-bearer to the gods. As I crossed the old Colorado River Bridge near Altair, the bright stars were popping out above. [3], It is now one of the 88 constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. In this legend, two people are joined together in love but separated by the stars. The constellation is often confused for the asterism because the Northern Cross is much easier to find than the entire constellation. This is the bottom … Altair has had a colorful history with cattle drives, railroad beds, businesses, ranching, farming, oil, and the gravel industry. Several different Polynesian equivalents to Aquila as a whole are known. One of them is what may be the largest single mass concentration of galaxies in the Universe known, the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall. It was not surprising that “Aquila” (Latin) meant “Eagle,” since it was so close to Eagle Lake. Fixed star Altair, Alpha Aquilae, is a 0.8 magnitude a pale yellow star in the neck of the Eagle, Aquila Constellation.The traditional name Altair is an … In Latin, Aquila means "eagle," reminiscent of the historic lunar exploration module Neil Armstrong and … The Aquila constellation … This impressive creature has been a potent emblem throughout history. It was discovered in November 2013, and has the size of 10 billion light years. They created the trail ride from Altair along the “Old Spanish Trail” to San Antonio. The Pukapuka constellation Tolu, meaning "three", was made up of Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Aquilae. Aquila has three stars brighter than magnitude 3.00 and two stars located within 10 parsecs (32.6 light years) of Earth. [8], In illustrations of Aquila that represent it as an eagle, a nearly straight line of three stars symbolizes part of the wings. It built a water tower, and the first telephone line was run between Columbus and Altair. The constellation was also known as Vultur volans (the flying vulture) to the Romans, not to be confused with Vultur cadens which was their name for Lyra. Altair or Alpha Aquilae (Alp Aql) is the brightest naked eye star in the constellation Aquila.With an apparent magnitude of 0.76v, Altair is the 12th brightest star in the entire sky (see: 50 Brightest Stars … It had been earlier mentioned by Eudoxus in the fourth century BC and Aratus in the third century BC. Altair has a magnitude of 0.76.[1]. The brightest star in the constellation is Altair, Alpha Aquilae (spectral class A7 V), which is also the 12th brightest star in the sky. The effects are not continuous. [5], In classical Greek mythology, Aquila was identified as Αετός Δίας (Aetos Dios), the eagle that carried the thunderbolts of Zeus and was sent by him to carry the shepherd boy Ganymede, whom he desired, to Mount Olympus; the constellation of Aquarius is sometimes identified with Ganymede. It was just at Texas twilight; a perfect time of day. Three interesting planetary nebulae lie in Aquila: Aquila also holds some extragalactic objects. Birth of the Federationreferr… The Night Sky: August 2020. Altair, Alpha Aquilae, is the brightest star in the constellation Aquila, the Eagle. In ancient Egypt, Aquila possibly was seen as the falcon of Horus. The center and brightest of these three stars is Altair. Altair, Alpha Aquilae (α Aql), is a white main sequence star located at a distance of 16.73 light years from Earth in the constellation Aquila, the Eagle. Altair, also called Alpha Aquilae, the brighest star in the northern constellation Aquila and the 12th brightest star in the sky. Its name references the Futunan name for Orion's belt and sword, Amonga. Altair is the brightest star in the constellation Aquila and is the 12th brightest star in the night sky. (FASA RPG module: The Federation) 1. Altair is a Subgiant Star type star. The best time to view this star is in the summer to autumn months when it rises about 90 minutes after sunset. By Eudoxus in the constellation name was used as early as 1730, before. Together in love but separated by the second-century astronomer Ptolemy 70 in constellations... An Altair train station was built, along with a telegraph office Altair is pale. 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