What does Altair's fast spin do to its shape?

It flattens it, widening the equator

What is gravity darkening?

Cooler, dimmer areas at the bulging equator

What was achieved for Altair in 2007?

Its surface was imaged in detail

In the Qixi legend, who is Altair?

The cowherd separated from the weaver girl

Altair Quiz: The Fast-Spinning Star of the Summer Triangle

This Altair quiz looks at the bright star of Aquila that marks one corner of the Summer Triangle. Play an interactive set of 10 questions on its distance, its rapid spin, a flattened shape, hotter poles, the first surface image of a star like it, Vega and Deneb and the Qixi love story.

Start Altair Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Constellation
Which constellation is Altair in?
Triangle
Which two stars form the Summer Triangle with Altair?
Distance
About how far away is Altair?
Spin
Roughly how long does Altair take to spin once?
Shape
What does Altair's fast spin do to its shape?
Bulge
About how much wider is Altair at its equator than pole to pole?
Dark
What is gravity darkening?
Image
What was achieved for Altair in 2007?
Myth
In the Qixi legend, who is Altair?
River
What separates the lovers in that legend?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which constellation is Altair in?
Answer: Aquila, the eagle
It is Alpha Aquilae.
Q2: Which two stars form the Summer Triangle with Altair?
Answer: Vega and Deneb
It is easy to spot in summer.
Q3: About how far away is Altair?
Answer: About 17 light-years
It is one of our nearer bright stars.
Q4: Roughly how long does Altair take to spin once?
Answer: About 9 hours
The Sun takes nearly a month.
Q5: What does Altair's fast spin do to its shape?
Answer: It flattens it, widening the equator
The equator bulges outward.
Q6: About how much wider is Altair at its equator than pole to pole?
Answer: About 20 percent
It looks squashed.
Q7: What is gravity darkening?
Answer: Cooler, dimmer areas at the bulging equator
The poles appear brighter.
Q8: What was achieved for Altair in 2007?
Answer: Its surface was imaged in detail
The CHARA array made the image.
Q9: In the Qixi legend, who is Altair?
Answer: The cowherd separated from the weaver girl
Vega is the weaver girl.
Q10: What separates the lovers in that legend?
Answer: The Milky Way
Magpies form a bridge once a year.

Altair Quiz – The Fast-Spinning Star of the Summer Triangle

Altair is the brightest star in Aquila, the eagle, and lies about 17 light-years away. With Vega and Deneb it forms the Summer Triangle, a pattern easy to spot on summer nights in the north.

Altair spins about once every 9 hours, so fast that its equator bulges about 20 percent wider than its poles. Its poles are hotter and brighter, while the stretched equator is cooler, an effect called gravity darkening.

In 2007 the CHARA telescope array made one of the first detailed images of the surface of a star like it. In East Asian legend, Altair is a cowherd separated from Vega, the weaver girl, by the Milky Way.

What This Quiz Teaches

Astronomy fans will enjoy these questions.

Where Altair is
How fast it spins
What shape it has
How it was imaged
Which legend it stars in

Did You Know?

The Qixi festival is sometimes called Chinese Valentine's Day.
Japan celebrates the same story at Tanabata.
Altair is hotter and larger than the Sun.
Its name comes from Arabic for the flying eagle.
Fast spin is common in hot white stars.