Altair
| Altair | |
|---|---|
| File:Altair.jpg | |
| Information | |
| Number | 7 |
| Level | ?????? |
| Spectral Class | ?????? |
| Catalogue ID | ?????? |
| Temperature | ?????? |
| Mass | ?????? |
| Radius | ?????? |
| Magnitude | ?????? |
| Planets # | ?????? |
| Moons # | ?????? |
| Planets | ?????? |
| Moons | ?????? |
| Description | ?????? |
| Points of Interest | ?????? |
| Notable Resources | ?????? |
| Exists IRL | Yes |
| Patch | 1.0 |
Altair is a level ?????? Star System with ?????? Planets and ?????? Moons.
Planets and Moons
Description
Additional Information
Real Life Information
Altair, also known as Alpha Aquilae, is a real star that exists in our universe. It is the brightest star in the constellation Aquila and the twelfth brightest star in the night sky. It is one of the closest stars to Earth that is visible to the naked eye, located approximately 16.7 light-years away.
Overview
Altair is a white main sequence star, similar to our own Sun, but larger and more luminous. It has a spectral type of A7V, indicating that it is a hot star with a surface temperature of about 7,500 to 10,000 Kelvin. Altair is notable for its extremely rapid rotation, which causes the star to be oblate, or flattened at the poles. This rapid rotation also causes Altair to have a very strong magnetic field.
Altair is one of the vertices of the Summer Triangle, an asterism in the northern hemisphere, along with the stars Deneb and Vega. It is also part of the smaller asterism known as the Cap of Cygnus.
Physical Properties
Altair has a mass about 1.8 times that of the Sun and a radius about 1.7 times solar. Despite its larger size, Altair has a lower density than the Sun due to its rapid rotation. The star's equatorial rotation speed is about 286 km/s, which is close to its breakup speed, the speed at which the star would start to break apart due to centrifugal force.
The star's rapid rotation causes it to have an oblate shape, with its equatorial diameter being about 20% larger than its polar diameter. This oblateness was confirmed by direct observations made by the Palomar Testbed Interferometer in 2001 and the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer in 2003.
Altair's surface gravity is about 4.29 cgs, slightly lower than the Sun's due to its larger size and lower density. Its metallicity, or abundance of elements heavier than helium, is slightly lower than the Sun's, indicating that it is slightly older.
Observational History
Altair has been known since antiquity and has been significant in many cultures. In ancient Babylon, the star was known as "the eagle star". In ancient China, it was one of the "Four Great Stars" of the Chinese heavens. In Hinduism, it is associated with the god Vishnu.
The star's rapid rotation was first suspected in the 1960s by Roger Griffin and Robert Hanbury Brown, who observed that its spectral lines were unusually broadened. This was confirmed by direct observations in the early 2000s.
Future Evolution
Like all main sequence stars, Altair is slowly fusing its hydrogen into helium in its core. Once the hydrogen in its core is exhausted, the star will expand into a red giant and eventually shed its outer layers, leaving behind a white dwarf. This process will take several billion years.
In Popular Culture
Altair has been featured in many works of fiction, including the video game series "Assassin's Creed", where it is the name of the protagonist, and the anime "Mobile Suit Gundam", where it is the name of a space colony. It is also the name of a planet in the classic science fiction film "Forbidden Planet".