Aquila - The Eagle
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Aquila should be one of the first constellations that you can identify in the summer sky. The star Altair of magnitude 0.8 makes up one apex of the "summer triangle". Altair is very close to us - just 16 light years away. A famous variable star is located in Aquila - eta Aquilae. It is a bright Cepheid, which varies between magnitudes 4.1 and 5.3 every 7.2 days. The milky way makes a spectacular sight through Aquila late on summer evenings. On the right is Bayer's map of Aquila, from 1603.