Essay On Aquila

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Aquila is a constellation found in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere, near the celestial equator, during the summer. The name originates from the Latin word aquila, meaning eagle. It is the 22nd largest constellation in the sky and is best seen high in the south during late summer, especially in September around 9:00 pm. Aquila’s right ascension is 20 hours, its declination is 5 degrees, and it is visible between latitudes 85 and -75 degrees (Dolan). Two meteor showers are connected with Aquila, the June Aquilids and the Epsilon Aquilids. Aquila was originally catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century and contains six major stars (“Aquila Constellation”).
Altair (Alpha Aquilae) is the brightest star in Aquila and the 12th brightest star in the sky. Its name is derived from the Arabic phrase an-nasr at-ta’ir, meaning “the flying eagle.” Altair is the southern star of the Summer Triangle asterism, which also consists of the star Deneb, from the constellation Cygnus, as the northeastern vertex of the triangle and the star Vega, in Lyra (the harp), as the northwestern vertex. Altair is a white star roughly seventeen light years from Earth (“Aquila, the Eagle”). Despite being the seventh brightest star in Aquila, Alshain was chosen to be Beta Aquilae by Johann Bayer, a celestial cartographer, and derives its name from the Perso-Arabic word aš-šāhīn, meaning “the falcon.” The second brightest star in Aquila is Tarazed (Gamma Aquilae) whose name originates from the Persian phrase šāhin tarāzu, meaning “the balance” or “beam of the scale.” The stars Epsilon Aquilae and Zeta Aquilae encompass the tail of Aquila. Together, these stars are called Deneb el Okab, which means “the tail of the eagle” in Arabic. In order to d...

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...they were deeply in love, their parents did not approve and largely forbid the match. Desperate to prevent their separation, Adrastos built Katapeltis to project himself and Lena into the stars, where they could spend eternity together. After successfully finishing his creation, Adrastos quickly went to retrieve Lena late into the night, when the stars were shining their brightest. As fate would have it, Lena’s parents, noticing her absence, sent Lena’s uncle, Artamos, to kill Adrastos. While Adrastos prepared to send himself amongst the stars after propelling Lena safely into the sky, Artamos found him and violently massacred him. Zeus, taking pity on the unfortunate lover, placed Katapeltis among the stars as a memorial for the ruptured love. Katapeltis forever shines in the night sky next to Lena, who can be seen crying every night for her abandoned former lover.

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