Aquila

The Eagle is an easily recognized summer and fall constellation. The eye of Aquila is the very bright star Altair, a type A star about twice the mass and size of our sun. Lying at a distance of about 17 light years from Earth, Altair is approaching us at a velocity of about 18 miles per second. This star rotates very rapidly, going around about once every 9 hours, which gives Altair a very pronounced equatorial bulge. Altair was the star around which the science fiction movie Forbidden Planet was filmed.

Color image of Aquila