The Constellation Aquila, the Eagle
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Aquila
Aquila, the Eagle, is one of many beautiful birds in the night
sky. (Can you name all the others? There are 6 more "real" birds and
one mythical bird!) A straight line of three stars is part of the
wings of the eagle. The center and brightest of these three stars is
the bright, white Altair.
Altair is one of the three stars forming
the Summer Triangle.
To the ancient Greek people, Aquila was the servant of Zeus who held
the god's thunderbolts and performed errands for him. In Korea and Japan, some stories
tell of the bright star Vega as
the Weaving-Princess star who marries a shephard, the star Altair.
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