Aquila

Aquila (abbreviation: Aql), the Eagle (of Zeus), is a distinctive constellation on the celestial equator that spreads across many rich fields. Due to a lane of obscuring dust known as the Great Rift, the Milky Way splits in two through this constellation and also through Ophiuchus.

Aquila has been a fruitful hunting ground for nova-seekers, producing four since 1899, including two of the brightest on record. One of these, in AD 389, became as bright as Venus; the other, in 1918, outshone Altair.

See below for details of the constellation's brightest stars and interesting deep sky objects.

NGC 6751

NGC 6751. Hubble Space Telescope image.

NGC 6751 is a planetary nebula, about 0.8 light-year in diameter, lying at a distance of about 6,500 light-years. It is also known as the Glowing Eye Nebula.

Stars in Aquila brighter than magnitude 4.0
star	vis mag	abs mag	spec type	distance (ly)	RA (h m s)	Dec (° ' ")
Alpha (Altair)	0.76	2.20	A7V	16.8	19 50 47	+08 52 06
Gamma (Tarazed)	2.72	-3.03	K3II	460	19 46 15	+10 36 48
Zeta (Dheneb)	2.99	0.95	A0Vn	83	19 05 24	+13 51 48
Theta	3.24	-1.49	B9.5III	287	20 11 18	-00 49 17
Delta	3.36	2.42	F3IV	50	19 25 30	+03 06 53
Lambda (Althalimain)	3.43	0.51	B9Vn	125	19 06 15	-04 52 57
Beta (Alshain)	3.71	3.02	G8IV	45	19 55 19	+06 24 24
Eta Aquilae	3.87	-3.91v	F6Ibv	1,170	19 52 28	+01 00 20

Other objects of interest
name	type of object	notes
GRS 1915+105	star	A star system containing the most massive known stellar black hole
NGC 6803	planetary nebula	A small bright ring. Magnitude 11.4; diameter 6"; RA 19h 29m, Dec +09° 58'
NGC 6891	planetary nebula	A bright disk and faint ring. Magnitude 12; diameter 1.2'; RA 20h 13m, Dec +12° 35'
NGC 6709	open cluster	A loose cluster arranged in a diamond formation with a bright star at each apex. Magnitude 6.7; diameter 13'; RA 18h 49m, Dec +10° 17'