Aquila

The Eagle

A summer constellation of the soaring Eagle, with bright Altair flanked by a dimmer star on each side.

Chart drawn as the sky looks when you face the constellation: north is up and east is to the left. Dot size shows brightness, and color hints at temperature. The connecting lines are one common stick figure; other traditions draw them differently.

Best season: Summer
Best months: June through October, high in the south on summer evenings
Visibility: Visible from everywhere in the United States
Abbreviation: Aql

How to find it

Find the Summer Triangle. Altair is the bright star at its southern corner.
Look for the short line of three stars: Altair in the middle, with fainter Tarazed and Alshain on either side.

Brightest stars

Altair (white, one of the nearest bright stars)
Tarazed
Alshain

What to look for

The trio of Alshain, Altair, and Tarazed, a short, straight line.
How the Milky Way flows past the Eagle on a dark night.

Binocular and telescope targets

The Milky Way star clouds around Aquila: rich fields for binoculars

Using it to find other things

Altair is one corner of the Summer Triangle, with Vega and Deneb.

About this constellation

Aquila is easy to identify because Altair is the bright star at the southern corner of the Summer Triangle, with a dimmer star on each side.

Altair is only about seventeen light-years away, one of the nearest stars visible to the naked eye.

Related guides

Visibility depends on your latitude, the date, and the time of night. The months above assume a typical evening from the contiguous United States, so use a planetarium app to confirm what is up tonight. Never look at the Sun through binoculars or a telescope without a proper solar filter.

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