Altair
Alpha Aquilae · Aquila
Position (2026)
♒ 2°09' Aquarius
Magnitude
0.76
Planetary Nature
Mars / Jupiter (robson)
Wilson: Saturn / Mercury
Simmonite: Uranus
Alvidas: Uranus / Mercury / Sun (Uranus and Mercury in sextile to the Sun)
Spectral Type
A7IV-V
Appearance
A brilliant white rapid rotator in the neck of the Eagle, the twelfth brightest star in the sky
Name Origin
Language
Arabic
Original Form
Al Nasr al Ṭā'ir
Meaning
The Flying Eagle
Alpha Aquilae. From the Arabic Al Nasr al Ṭā'ir, the Flying Eagle, shortened to Al Ṭā'ir and then Altair. Paired in Arabic tradition with Vega (Al Nasr al Wāḳi', the Swooping Eagle). In East Asian astronomy, Altair is the Cowherd (Niú Láng) in the Tanabata/Qixi legend, separated from the Weaving Girl (Vega) by the Celestial River.
Known As
Altair in Astrology
Altair, the neck of Aquila the Eagle, carries Mars-Jupiter energy that bestows bold ambition, daring action, and the capacity for sudden, dramatic ascent. It grants you exceptional courage and the drive to soar above ordinary limitations. Achievement comes through decisive, courageous action, and you possess the eagle's quality of commanding perspective from great heights.
Mythology & History
Altair takes its name from the Arabic al-Nasr al-Ta'ir, meaning 'the flying eagle,' distinguishing it from Vega, the 'swooping eagle.' Altair forms the southern apex of the Summer Triangle along with Vega and Deneb. In the Chinese legend of the Cowherd and the Weaving Girl, Altair represents Niu Lang, the mortal cowherd separated from his celestial wife (Vega) by the river of the Milky Way. In Arabic star lore, Altair flanked by its two companion stars Tarazed and Alshain was seen as a falcon with outstretched wings.
In 2007, a team led by John Monnier at the University of Michigan used the CHARA array interferometer to produce the first image of the surface of a main-sequence star other than the Sun, revealing Altair's oblate shape from rapid rotation. U.S. Air Force navigators in the mid-20th century called the Summer Triangle the Navigator's Triangle for aerial navigation before electronic systems. Altair is central to the ancient Chinese legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, celebrated annually at the Qixi Festival and the related Japanese Tanabata and Korean Chilseok festivals.
Aquila Context
Altair is the brightest star in Aquila the Eagle, the constellation the Greeks associated with the eagle of Zeus that carried the thunderbolts and abducted Ganymede. In another tradition, the eagle was Aphrodite in disguise, pursuing Zeus who had taken the form of a swan. Aquila represents swift, decisive action from above: the raptor's strike, the thunderbolt delivered, the divine will executed with precision and speed. Altair's Mars-Jupiter nature combines this martial swiftness with the expansive ambition of the king of birds.
Learn more about Aquila and its stars.
Natal Conjunctions
Find your conjunctions →Altair Conjunct Sun
Altair conjunct the Sun stamps the identity with the eagle's bold, commanding perspective. You possess exceptional ambition and the drive to rise above ordinary limitations through decisive action. The personality radiates confidence from height, seeing further than others and acting on that vision.
Altair Conjunct Moon
Altair conjunct the Moon creates emotional instincts of fierce independence and aerial perspective. You process feelings from a height that grants clarity but can create distance from ground-level intimacy. Emotional security comes through maintaining the freedom to soar rather than being pinned down.
Altair Conjunct Mercury
Altair conjunct Mercury gives a mind of swift, decisive clarity and commanding scope. You think from above, grasping the full layout of a situation before others have oriented themselves. Communication is precise, authoritative, and delivered with the directness of someone who has no time for circuitous reasoning.
Altair Conjunct Venus
Altair conjunct Venus brings a bold, adventurous quality to love and aesthetic expression. You are attracted to partners who match your courage and independence, and creative work carries the eagle's quality of daring, elevated beauty. Love is expressed through shared adventure rather than domestic comfort.
Altair Conjunct Mars
Altair conjunct Mars amplifies martial courage with the eagle's swift, decisive strike. You act from a position of commanding perspective, timing your interventions for maximum impact. Physical energy expresses as short, intense bursts of focused power rather than sustained grinding effort.
Altair Conjunct Jupiter
Altair conjunct Jupiter expands bold ambition into visionary leadership and philosophical daring. You pursue large goals with the combined force of courage and conviction, and success comes through the willingness to take calculated risks that more cautious minds would refuse.
Altair Conjunct Saturn
Altair conjunct Saturn grounds the eagle's daring with strategic discipline and patient timing. You learn that the most effective strike requires waiting for the right moment, and ambition matures from reckless daring into calculated precision. Authority is earned through disciplined courage.
Altair Conjunct Uranus
Altair conjunct Uranus electrifies the eagle's boldness with sudden, unpredictable action and revolutionary ambition. You break through barriers that others assumed permanent and achieve breakthroughs through audacity that conventional thinking cannot anticipate. The capacity for sudden ascent is extraordinary.
Altair Conjunct Neptune
Altair conjunct Neptune infuses the eagle's commanding vision with intuitive perception and spiritual aspiration. You sense possibilities that rational analysis alone cannot reach and are drawn toward heights that transcend material ambition. The challenge is maintaining the sharp clarity that makes action effective.
Altair Conjunct Pluto
Altair conjunct Pluto concentrates the eagle's commanding power into transformative intensity. You are drawn to positions requiring absolute authority and possess the capacity to fundamentally alter the balance of power in any environment. Ambition operates at depths that demand total commitment.
Altair Conjunct North Node
Altair conjunct the North Node marks a destiny that requires bold, decisive action and the courage to rise above comfortable limitations. Your life path demands developing the eagle's perspective and the willingness to act on what you see from that height.
Altair Conjunct Ascendant
Altair on the Ascendant gives a sharp, alert physical presence with penetrating eyes and decisive bearing. Others sense immediately that you are someone who acts swiftly and does not waste time. The personality projects confidence, ambition, and the quality of someone who operates from commanding heights.
Altair Conjunct Midheaven
Altair on the Midheaven marks a career built on bold leadership and the capacity for sudden, dramatic advancement. You rise professionally through decisive action and the willingness to take risks that place you above competitors. Recognition comes for courage and vision exercised from positions of authority.
Paran Interpretations
Parans describe what happens when Altair and a planet simultaneously occupy the four angles (rising, culminating, setting, nadir) at a given location.
Altair in Paran with Sun
Rising
Altair rising with the Sun marks someone who enters life with the eagle's bold confidence and an instinct for rapid ascent.
Culminating
Altair culminating with the Sun places daring leadership and commanding perspective at the absolute peak of public achievement.
Setting
Altair setting with the Sun suggests a legacy of bold decisions and courageous action that are recognized in retrospect.
At the Nadir
Altair at the nadir with the Sun reveals a private ambition and commanding inner vision that silently drives all visible achievement.
Altair in Paran with Moon
Rising
Altair rising with the Moon instills early emotional independence and the instinct to process feelings from a position of height.
Culminating
Altair culminating with the Moon brings fierce emotional clarity and independent feeling to the most visible public expression.
Setting
Altair setting with the Moon indicates emotional perspective and independence that deepen and sharpen through life experience.
At the Nadir
Altair at the nadir with the Moon conceals a fierce inner independence and emotional clarity that operates from hidden heights.
Altair in Paran with Mercury
Rising
Altair rising with Mercury bestows early mental sharpness and the ability to grasp situations from a commanding intellectual height.
Culminating
Altair culminating with Mercury elevates decisive, commanding communication and strategic thinking to the highest professional level.
Setting
Altair setting with Mercury suggests a mind that grows more decisively clear and commanding with the perspective of years.
At the Nadir
Altair at the nadir with Mercury reveals a hidden capacity for swift, aerial thinking that operates beneath deliberate surfaces.
Altair in Paran with Venus
Rising
Altair rising with Venus shapes early aesthetic sensibility toward bold, elevated beauty and adventurous creative expression.
Culminating
Altair culminating with Venus brings recognition for daring, elevated art and love expressed with confident independence.
Setting
Altair setting with Venus suggests creative and romantic expression that gain boldness and commanding beauty with maturity.
At the Nadir
Altair at the nadir with Venus conceals a private love of elevated beauty and independent aesthetic vision that quietly shapes all creative work.
Altair in Paran with Mars
Rising
Altair rising with Mars produces early physical courage and the instinct for swift, decisive action from commanding positions.
Culminating
Altair culminating with Mars places martial courage and decisive strike at the absolute apex of competitive or professional achievement.
Setting
Altair setting with Mars indicates physical decisiveness and strategic boldness that grow more precisely effective with age.
At the Nadir
Altair at the nadir with Mars conceals extraordinary reserves of swift, decisive fighting energy that strike without warning.
Altair in Paran with Jupiter
Rising
Altair rising with Jupiter expands early ambitions into visionary goals pursued with confident, soaring optimism.
Culminating
Altair culminating with Jupiter brings peak achievement through bold philosophical leadership and expansive, daring vision.
Setting
Altair setting with Jupiter indicates growing wisdom about the exercise of bold leadership and ambitious action in later years.
At the Nadir
Altair at the nadir with Jupiter reveals a vast inner confidence and expansive private vision that fuels all outward daring.
Altair in Paran with Saturn
Rising
Altair rising with Saturn demands early discipline in channeling bold ambition into strategically timed, calculated action.
Culminating
Altair culminating with Saturn achieves commanding authority through years of disciplined, precisely targeted bold leadership.
Setting
Altair setting with Saturn builds a reputation for bold decisions proven right by time, with authority deepening each decade.
At the Nadir
Altair at the nadir with Saturn establishes inner reserves of disciplined ambition and strategic patience beneath the bold exterior.
Altair in Paran with Ascendant
Rising
Altair rising with the Ascendant stamps the personality with sharp alertness, decisive bearing, and visible confidence.
Culminating
Altair culminating with the Ascendant projects bold personal authority and commanding presence onto the widest stage.
Setting
Altair setting with the Ascendant draws others who recognize your decisive, commanding quality and natural leadership.
At the Nadir
Altair at the nadir with the Ascendant grounds personal identity in a deeply private ambition and inner eagle's perspective.
Altair in Paran with Midheaven
Rising
Altair rising with the Midheaven launches a career defined by bold, decisive action from the earliest professional moments.
Culminating
Altair culminating with the Midheaven represents the absolute peak of career achievement through daring leadership and vision.
Setting
Altair setting with the Midheaven indicates a career legacy of bold decisions and commanding leadership remembered for their impact.
At the Nadir
Altair at the nadir with the Midheaven builds career success on hidden foundations of fierce ambition and commanding inner vision.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the name Altair mean?
The name Altair comes from Arabic: Al Nasr al Ṭā'ir, meaning "The Flying Eagle." Alpha Aquilae. The star is known by 6 different cultural names across world traditions.
Lunar Mansions
Altair serves as the determinant star for this lunar mansion across different traditions.
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