Star
Altair
Altair is a white star 16.7 light-years away, one of the nearest there are, seen as it was 17 years ago, shining 11 times as bright as the Sun.
It spins in under eight hours and bulges over 20% at its equator. The first main-sequence star after the Sun to have its surface imaged.
See it live
It is on the live 3D map, where it really is.
Key facts
- Distance
- 16.7 light-years
- Brightness from Earth
- magnitude 0.76
- Spectral type
- A7IV-V
- Catalogue
- HIP 97649
See it from here
Bright enough to see with your own eyes from a dark place.
How the map draws it
Drawn as a point of light, sized by how bright it looks from where you are — the kind of thing, not this exact one.