The images also reveal general surface details, such as the fact that Altair’s equator is darker - and therefore cooler - than its polar regions. Astronomers at the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) have directly imaged Altair, using CHARA’s Mid-Infrared Combiner to capture its oblate shape.
Stars typically appear as featureless points of light no matter what telescope is used or how much magnification is applied, but due to Altair’s size and proximity, we can see the actual surface of this star. The giant planet also rotates every 10 hours but with only 10% of the Sun’s girth, its equator travels only about 13 kilometers per second (30,000 mph). To put this number into perspective, consider Jupiter.
MOVE EAGLE EYE FULL
Completing a full rotation every 10 hours, Altair’s equator is moving at roughly 290 kilometers a second - that’s equivalent to about 650,000 miles per hour. Occasionally we find stars ( Regulus and Vega are two examples) that are rotating so rapidly, their shape begins to stretch as a result. It’s possible that Altair has begun to utilize helium in the core, and therefore could be on the way towards becoming a subgiant star. Altair appears to be on the main sequence, where stars still burn hydrogen in their cores, but it’s almost twice the Sun’s size and mass. Altair Vitals Official name ( IAU-approved)Īltair is the twelfth-brightest star in the night sky and one of the closest stars to Earth, at a distance of only 16.7 light-years.
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