It is said that when Zeus (Jupiter), king of the gods, needed an errand run between heaven and earth, he employed an eagle for the task. To honour this trustworthy bird, Zeus placed its majestic form in the stars, where it swoops down the middle of the Milky Way, closely passing the other great bird of the summer sky, Cygnus, the swan.

The alpha star in Aquila is Altair, the twelfth brightest star in the sky, with a magnitude 0.77. It is one of the closest stars to Earth, only 16 light years away. It is also unique in that it is one of the fastest rotating stars known. Our Sun completes one rotation every 25.4 days, whereas Altair, which is half again as large as our Sun, completes one rotation in only 6.5 hours. This rapid rotation would cause the star to be significantly flattened at the poles, giving it an ellipsoid shape, rather than the normal sphere.

Beta Aquilae is named Alschain. It is 40 light years away, with a magnitude of 3.71.

Gamma Aquila is named Tarazed. It is over 300 light years away, with a magnitude of 2.67.

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