Altair
Alpha Aquilae · Aquila
Last updated
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 belongs to Jupiter's Eagle, the bird that retrieves his thunderbolts and fights in heaven's service. With its two bright companions, it also forms the Chinese Cowherd, who reaches the Spinning Damsel across the Milky Way by a bridge of magpies. Courage has a purpose beyond personal ambition in both figures. Altair's Mars and Jupiter character is quick to act and ready for command; and its courage finds a home within caring relationships. The old delineations describe sudden wealth that can prove brief. The star's daring coexists with the quieter determination of keeping a commitment after the first excitement has passed.
Altair is quick to take command. Robson describes sudden wealth and a less certain hold on it; Brady reads courage through caring and human relationships. [1] [6] You step forward before success is assured, then discover how much work remains after the brave first move. The people who helped you begin still need your attention once the opportunity becomes a job.
The Anonymous of 379 includes the bright star of Aquila among stars that produce leaders and administrators when rising or culminating, with contention as well as wealth in the picture. [5] Initiative puts you in charge before everyone has agreed to follow. Working with allies becomes the next task, especially when they have ideas of their own about a decision you thought was settled.
Ptolemy assigns Mars and Jupiter to Aquila, the Eagle. [3] With Altair, ambition finds an immediate outlet in action. You see work that needs doing and accept the assignment, sometimes before considering how long you are prepared to keep doing it.
Altair by birth year
On 1 January 2026, Altair stood at ♒ 2°09′ Aquarius in the tropical zodiac.
It entered Aquarius in May 1874.
Positions are for 1 January of each year; a star moves about 50 arcseconds a year, so a birth late in the decade sits close to the next row.
| Born in | Position |
|---|---|
| 1900 | ♒ 0°22′ Aquarius |
| 1910 | ♒ 0°30′ Aquarius |
| 1920 | ♒ 0°39′ Aquarius |
| 1930 | ♒ 0°47′ Aquarius |
| 1940 | ♒ 0°56′ Aquarius |
| 1950 | ♒ 1°04′ Aquarius |
| 1960 | ♒ 1°13′ Aquarius |
| 1970 | ♒ 1°21′ Aquarius |
| 1980 | ♒ 1°30′ Aquarius |
| 1990 | ♒ 1°38′ Aquarius |
| 2000 | ♒ 1°46′ Aquarius |
| 2010 | ♒ 1°55′ Aquarius |
| 2020 | ♒ 2°03′ Aquarius |
| 2030 | ♒ 2°12′ Aquarius |
Altair rises from every inhabited latitude and never sets poleward of 81.1° N.
Computed by the Augurine engine on the apparent equinox of date from HYG coordinates with proper motion applied (engine build 1c1cc33).
The Eagle in Jupiter's service
those in Aquila, of Mars and Jupiter;
Hephaistio repeats Ptolemy's planetary assignment for Aquila with the Greek names Ares and Zeus. [4] Manilius's Eagle retrieves Jupiter's thunderbolts and supplies its master's weapons; the person born under the rising Eagle serves a king or general. He gives the constellation a taste for fighting and directs that aggression toward service. [7] In a natal reading, this is the person ready to act on behalf of someone they consider worth defending. Choosing whom to serve matters as much as the willingness to fight.
Firmicus also writes about the constellation rising. He puts military achievement under favorable planetary aspects, while Mars or Saturn describes entrusted command and administration. [8] Responsibility extends beyond accepting a title. You have to do the work it permits, including the difficult assignments you took because you expected to be effective at them. Enthusiasm for a new role needs to survive the routine duties that come with it.
The Anonymous of 379 gives Altair itself a place in the Jupiter and Mars group beside Regulus, Arcturus and Antares. Its rising and culminating descriptions include independence and effectiveness alongside contention. [5] A work dispute often continues after a decision has been made. You still have to work with the former rival, and winning the argument has done little to settle how you treat each other.
Four natures for Altair, and wealth that passes
Influence. Opinions are divided as to the exact nature of this star. Ptolemy gives Mars and Jupiter, Wilson, Saturn and Mercury; Simmonite, Uranus; and Alvidas, Uranus and Mercury in sextile to the Sun.
Robson reports four planetary mixtures. His own delineation describes a confident, ambitious person who takes command and gains sudden wealth that is short-lived. [1] Entering a contest or recognizing an opening comes readily. Maintaining the gain takes attention after the excitement of winning has worn off. A person who enjoyed the first challenge may find the continuing obligation harder to accept.
Brady's two routes to achievement are risk-taking and determined effort. She also reports Ebertin's agreement with Robson on success and courage. [6] With a close Altair contact, compare a venture that required a brave first move with another that required persistence. Enjoying the beginning does little to prepare you for the months when the work repeats itself. Notice which commitments you continue to keep once there is less to discover.
Altair's Sun in public, its Moon among friends
With Sun. Public honour, notoriety, favours from superiors, many friends and some envious ones who cause trouble through writings…
With the Sun, your convictions become visible through what you do. Robson pairs recognition with social exposure. Brady gives John Lennon Altair rising as the Sun culminates, a paran, and connects it with his musical protest for human rights and peace. [6] Public work involves people who support you as well as people who object. Friends who disagree in public test how much room you leave for them to hold convictions of their own.
With Moon. Interest in a strange or ancient discovery, disappointment and loss over property and gain, some profit and preferment, friends become enemies, trouble through companies or public affairs, difficulties through or misfortune to children.
With the Moon, discovery becomes a personal investment. Brady has Jules Verne's Moon setting as Altair culminates and connects the paran with his passions and beliefs. [6] You put emotional weight into something you want to explore, then feel disappointed when companions fail to share it. Treat Robson's severe outcomes as period language and weigh the tendencies against the whole chart. Ask how much security has become tied to a shared project, especially when another participant pulls away.
Robson's Mars has a sharp mind and eventual gain despite trouble through friends or organizations. His Mercury describes difficult experiences and disappointed partnerships; Venus gets unusual attractions and losses through friends. [1] With Mars, continuing through disagreement takes effort long after the argument ends. With Mercury, check that partners understand an agreement in the same way. With Venus, give an attraction time before letting it carry financial expectations. Friendship alone settles little about what someone expects in return for their help.
With Jupiter, conviction becomes part of the problem. Robson lists religious zeal and trouble through legal or church matters. [1] Disagreement starts to feel like opposition to your principles, even when someone is questioning a particular decision. With Saturn, Brady gives Leonardo da Vinci Altair rising as Saturn culminates and connects the paran with thought and exploration of new areas. [6] Saturn favors sustained intellectual effort, including the long stretches when others offer little agreement or encouragement.
The Anonymous reads Altair rising or culminating through command and administration. [5] A longitude conjunction to the Ascendant differs from Altair actually rising, since the star lies about 29° north of the ecliptic. With the star rising, taking charge often comes before anyone assigns a leader. At the Midheaven, responsibility becomes public, and your reputation depends on handling situations others avoid. Brady emphasizes caring. [6] The people whose work depends on your decisions need access to you after you take command.
Altair's Flying Eagle and the Cowherd
The name Altair comes from part of the Arabic name for the constellation, according to Allen. His Flying Eagle consists of Alpha Aquilae and its two bright companions, Beta and Gamma. He gives the Star-striking Falcon as a Persian name for the group. [2] Allen also records the Chinese River Drum for these stars and includes them in the twenty-first Indian lunar mansion. [2]
The Cowherd story gives this group a very different occupation. In Allen's Chinese account, the three bright stars reach the Spinning Damsel across the Milky Way by a bridge of magpies. His Korean version makes the lovers a prince and his bride, banished to opposite sides of the river by her father. They meet on the seventh night of the seventh moon, then return to their separate places for another year. [2] The effort goes into reaching another person, and the meeting has a cost in waiting.
Brady places Altair's courage within human relationships. [6] Determination also goes into making time for a partner or continuing to support a group's work after the first excitement has passed. The effort becomes less visible with repetition. Keeping an ordinary commitment takes some of the same persistence as pursuing the opportunity that first caught your attention.
Altair in Aquarius since May 1874
Altair entered tropical Aquarius in May 1874. Robson gives it 0°39′ Aquarius in 1920. [1] In 2026 it is at 2°09′ Aquarius. A chart from 1980 uses about 1°30′ Aquarius, so the birth date matters when a conjunction is close to the limit. Augurine's calculator uses a conjunction orb of 1°30′ for Altair. Use the dated degree when deciding whether the planet is close enough to read with the star.
The Anonymous of 379 gives a co-rising degree. Altair co-rises with the seventh degree of Capricorn, which locates the zodiac degree rising alongside the star. [5] This describes a relationship at the horizon rather than Altair's longitude. For the Anonymous's angular reading, find the star at the horizon or meridian in the natal sky.
Altair between Jupiter's Eagle and the magpies' bridge
The Eagle carries Ganymede from earth to heaven and stands in attendance on Jove. [2] It also retrieves the thunderbolts Jupiter has thrown, then returns them to him for use again. In Manilius, the bird supplies its master's weapons and fights in the service of heaven. [7]
Altair and its two bright companions become the Cowherd in Allen's Chinese story. Across the Milky Way waits the Spinning Damsel, in the stars of Lyra. The magpies make a bridge over the River of the Sky so that he can reach her. In the Korean version, the lovers are already married. [2]
The Korean version, with more detail, turns the Cowherd into a Prince, and the Spinster into his Bride, both banished to different parts of the sky by the irate father-in-law, but with the privilege of an annual meeting if they can cross the River. This they accomplish through the friendly aid of the good-natured magpies, who congregate from all parts of the kingdom during the 7th moon, and on its 7th night form the fluttering bridge across which the couple meet, lovers still, although married.
After the meeting, the couple returns to separate places of exile for another year. The magpies scatter home with bare heads, their feathers worn away by the feet that crossed the bridge. Morning showers are the lovers' tears of joy; evening showers are their tears at parting. [2]
How the authors read Altair
| Source | Nature | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Ptolemy | Mars and Jupiter | Assigns Mars and Jupiter to Aquila's stars, read through ambition and a readiness to act. [3] |
| Hephaistio of Thebes | Mars and Jupiter | Gives Aquila's stars to Ares and Zeus, the Greek names for Mars and Jupiter. [4] |
| Anonymous of 379 | Jupiter and Mars | Reads Altair rising or culminating through command and wealth, with contention and an uncertain end to the success. [5] |
| Vivian Robson | Mars and Jupiter; alternatives reported | Reports four competing natures. His delineation pairs a bold temperament with command and sudden wealth that may be brief. [1] |
| Bernadette Brady | no planetary mixture given | Reads courage through caring and human relationships, with achievement through risk-taking or determined effort. [6] |
| Firmicus Maternus | no planetary mixture given | Describes the rising Eagle constellation through military service and entrusted command, according to the planetary aspects. [8] |
Natal Conjunctions
Find your conjunctions →Altair Conjunct Sun
Speaking publicly for a cause exposes differences among friends as well as attracting support. Robson pairs recognition and favours from superiors with trouble through envious acquaintances and their writings. Brady's Lennon Sun paran gives public advocacy a place in the reading. With a conjunction, examine what happens when you act openly on a belief. People who support the purpose may still disagree with the approach, and those relationships need attention after the public gesture.
Altair Conjunct Moon
When companions lose interest in a discovery, their withdrawal can feel personal. Robson combines interest in unusual or ancient findings with disappointment over property and trouble in groups. Brady reads passions and beliefs through Jules Verne's Moon paran. Together these suggest a strong personal investment in exploration, with hurt when companions withdraw. Leave room for someone to question the project without treating that question as a rejection of you.
Altair Conjunct Mercury
Agreements need more attention than the excitement of a shared idea might suggest. Robson describes disappointment on long journeys and troubled partnerships. The reading turns on what each participant thinks they have agreed to do. Bold thinking can start a collaboration before its practical terms are clear. Put the responsibilities into ordinary language, and revisit them when experience changes what either person can realistically contribute.
Altair Conjunct Venus
An unusual attraction sometimes takes hold before you have thought through its consequences. Robson's Venus block is difficult for love and gain, with losses through friends. Read this as a reason to examine the expectations carried by an attraction, especially when affection and money become entangled. Brady's broader emphasis on caring gives the boldness a direction beyond the initial attraction. Make room for a relationship to develop at a pace both people can sustain.
Altair Conjunct Mars
A quick mind can help you keep working through a dispute. Robson gives sharp thinking and eventual gain despite trouble through friends or organizations. This suits determination that remains effective after initial enthusiasm has worn off. The difficult part is continuing alongside people who have opposed your decisions. State the immediate task clearly, and decide which disagreement needs resolving before the work can move ahead.
Altair Conjunct Jupiter
A small disagreement feels larger when you treat it as a challenge to your principles. Robson's religious zeal sits beside difficulties with legal or church affairs and disappointment over inheritance. His charge of hypocrisy is better examined through conduct than applied as a label. Ask whether the principle you defend also governs your own decisions. The test is whether you act consistently while allowing another person to hold a different view.
Altair Conjunct Saturn
Working without encouragement makes the patience of a serious colleague matter. Robson's account includes separation and disappointment, followed by institutional and medical predictions in his 1923 register. Brady's Leonardo Saturn paran emphasises sustained thought in unfamiliar subjects. The contact concerns staying with an inquiry long enough to revise a method or explanation. Regular contact with a serious colleague can help solitary work remain open to correction.
Altair Conjunct Uranus
You may question an accepted explanation while caring deeply about the person who holds it. Robson describes idealism and religious scepticism, with occasional abruptness and support from literary friends. Friendship puts those convictions into conversation with someone whose view differs from yours. Give the objection enough detail to be useful, and allow friendship to continue through an unresolved difference of opinion.
Altair Conjunct Neptune
An ideal is harder to act on when your surroundings discourage the attempt. Robson pairs high ideals with drifting and domestic strain; his sudden-death ending belongs to his historical account. The difficulty is finding an action small enough to carry through in those circumstances. Brady's caring emphasis supports a commitment to someone who needs your help. By helping regularly, you can act on the ideal even on an ordinary, disappointing day.
Altair Conjunct Pluto
Once you have led a group through pressure, sharing control may feel risky. The Mars and Jupiter reading of Altair supports examining how determination turns into control, particularly after an initial success. A strong purpose may keep a difficult undertaking alive while making disagreement feel intolerable. Look at who can question a decision and how it gets revised. Shared authority gives other people a reason to remain involved after the immediate crisis passes.
Altair Conjunct North Node
Commitment develops through the work that follows a brave beginning. Altair's reading pairs initiative with sustained effort. A meaningful direction needs people willing to continue when the opportunity becomes routine. You may learn more by staying with one demanding undertaking than by repeatedly proving you can start. Choose a responsibility whose daily requirements interest you, and keep the people affected by your decisions involved.
Altair Conjunct Ascendant
You step forward to lead before anyone has assigned the role. The Anonymous of 379 places Altair in a rising group concerned with command and administration, including contention. A longitude conjunction to the Ascendant differs from the star's actual rising because Altair lies north of the ecliptic. For the personal reading, examine how readily you step forward and how you include people once a decision has been made.
Altair Conjunct Midheaven
Responsibility becomes public when others rely on your decisions in difficult circumstances. The Anonymous of 379 includes Altair among stars of command when culminating, with effectiveness and contention in the same account. Brady's caring emphasis directs attention to the people under that authority. Look at what the work requires of those who carry out your decisions. Colleagues who rely on your courage also need your continued support once the difficult decision has been made.
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
Brady's Lennon Sun paran concerns public protest for human rights and peace. A cause gives bold self-expression a direction. That commitment starts early in this reading.
Culminating
Convictions become visible at the height of public life. Sustained action requires attention to the people who share its consequences, especially when recognition increases.
Setting
Established relationships test which commitments remain worth pursuing. Later purpose can develop through supporting another person's effort after your own position is secure.
At the Nadir
Holding to a conviction through discouragement requires courage even without an audience. What remains in later memory can be the help given when public recognition was absent.
Altair in Paran with Moon
Rising
Pursuing a strong interest raises questions about where you belong as a child. Emotional confidence grows when you can pursue a question without requiring everyone close to you to share it.
Culminating
Passions and beliefs seek public expression. Brady's Verne example has Altair culminating as the Moon sets; the mature work gives personal interests an audience.
Setting
Changing loyalties call for a more patient understanding of companionship as you grow older. Allow a shared interest to change without treating affection as equally uncertain.
At the Nadir
Remembering childhood returns you to commitments made within a group. Reflection helps distinguish what you still care about from what a group once expected of you.
Altair in Paran with Mercury
Rising
An outspoken question can be an early act of courage. Intellectual initiative works better when another person has enough time to answer it fully.
Culminating
Decisive explanations become part of professional responsibility. At midlife, the test is whether colleagues understand the proposal well enough to challenge an impractical assumption.
Setting
Negotiating with a partner takes precedence over settling every argument quickly as the relationship matures. Partners need clear terms that leave room for experience to change the plan.
At the Nadir
Notes kept for yourself preserve the reasons behind a difficult decision. In retirement or private study, revisiting those reasons helps others understand the choices you faced.
Altair in Paran with Venus
Rising
Attraction draws you beyond familiar company while you are still learning how to approach relationships. Caring requires learning how much risk the other person wants to share.
Culminating
A bold artistic choice needs continued support once your work has an audience. Collaborators still need your attention after the proposal has won public interest and the work must continue.
Setting
Affection matures through the effort of remaining available. Later love can involve renegotiating an adventurous commitment so that both people still want to participate.
At the Nadir
A demanding creative life depends partly on loyalties maintained in private. The remembered relationship may matter more in old age than the attention a shared venture received.
Altair in Paran with Mars
Rising
You are ready to act before you have the experience to draw on. An early challenge teaches how to persist after the first attempt meets resistance.
Culminating
Contested work puts determination in public view. At professional maturity, distinguish the disagreement that blocks progress from one that can remain unresolved for now.
Setting
Former competitors may become partners in later work. Shared effort needs an agreement about responsibility that survives the impulse to take over.
At the Nadir
Continuing a difficult task without recognition requires effort that public achievement rarely reveals. Later recollection can centre on the persistence required to support someone through an extended difficulty.
Altair in Paran with Jupiter
Rising
A belief you want to act on gives ambition a purpose from the start. Risk becomes more intelligible when you can explain whom the proposed achievement would help.
Culminating
Leadership makes the effects of conviction on others visible. In the middle years, others need to see how your principles guide decisions about their work.
Setting
Collaborators introduce beliefs different from your own as you take up work together later in life. Working together requires commitment to a cause that permits disagreement about how to pursue it.
At the Nadir
Convictions tested in private still guide decisions after a public role ends. Their legacy rests in decisions that others can understand and use when similar difficulties return.
Altair in Paran with Saturn
Rising
Brady's Leonardo Saturn paran concerns thought and exploration of unfamiliar subjects. Early intellectual courage needs repeated effort, including time spent with a question before an answer emerges.
Culminating
Long effort becomes visible in a position of responsibility. Professional maturity asks you to sustain a difficult purpose while taking colleagues' limits seriously.
Setting
Supporting someone else requires deliberate cooperation after you relinquish authority. Later achievement may involve supporting a successor whose approach differs from your own.
At the Nadir
Solitary work needs dependable routines and contact with others. In late life, the value of persistence may become clear through a task completed without much encouragement.
Altair in Paran with Ascendant
Rising
Taking the initiative becomes an early personal concern in Brady's timing method with the star at the eastern birth angle. Taking responsibility also requires learning how to respond to disagreement.
Culminating
Command among peers puts personal responsibility in public view with the star at the upper birth angle. In the middle years, standing depends on how you exercise that command.
Setting
Courage takes the form of continued availability in later relationships with a western birth star. Staying available to someone whose needs alter your plans puts determination to a different use.
At the Nadir
Determination sustains private commitments with the star below the birth horizon. Its later expression may concern a family commitment maintained while more visible ambitions change.
Altair in Paran with Midheaven
Rising
The first difficult assignment gives vocational interest an early direction. A rising birth star directs attention to the first responsibilities that required independent action.
Culminating
Command becomes a visible career concern with the star at the upper birth angle. Mature authority needs continued attention to the people affected by decisions.
Setting
Professional ambition changes through later alliances when the star occupies the western birth angle. Helping someone else take responsibility may become the work you most want to continue.
At the Nadir
Conviction supports work whose value emerges late with the star at the hidden birth angle. A lasting contribution can include the difficult responsibility accepted without a public role.
Notable Charts
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Altair conjunct the Sun mean?
Altair with the Sun favors acting publicly on a conviction, with reputation and friendships closely involved. Robson lists recognition and envy; Brady's Lennon Sun paran concerns musical protest for human rights and peace. [1] [6] A friend's disagreement tests how you handle the exposure that comes with public work.
Why do friends become rivals in Robson's Altair?
Robson repeatedly places trouble among friends or organizations in Altair's planet descriptions. [1] A shared ambition leaves room for different expectations about money or authority. Clarify what each person has agreed to before assuming that friendship means agreement about the work.
What connects Altair's Eagle with the Cowherd?
They are different figures formed around the same stars. Allen's Flying Eagle includes Alpha Aquilae with Beta and Gamma; his Chinese Cowherd account places the three bright stars opposite the Spinning Damsel across the Milky Way. [2] The Cowherd's annual meeting belongs to that story, without prescribing a relationship outcome for a natal contact.
Does Altair describe success through taking risks?
Risk-taking is one route in Brady's natal reading; persistent effort is the other. Robson's sudden but brief wealth raises the question of how a person sustains the result once the initial opportunity has passed. Read the daring first move alongside the work needed to continue. [6] [1]
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.
Sources
- Vivian E. Robson, The Fixed Stars and Constellations in Astrology, American Federation of Astrologers, Inc., 1923. Used for entry 24, competing natures, sudden wealth, planet readings and 1920 longitude.
Text of the 1923 edition; the site quotes a 2017 reprint.
- Richard Hinckley Allen, Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning, Dover Publications, Inc., 1899. Used for the Flying Eagle and Persian Falcon names; River Drum and the lunar mansion; Cowherd stories and the Eagle's service to Jove, including Ganymede.
- Claudius Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, translated by Frank Egleston Robbins, 1940. Used for Book 1.9 and the Mars and Jupiter nature of Aquila's stars.
- Hephaistio of Thebes, Apotelesmatics, Book I, translated by Robert Schmidt, The Golden Hind Press, 1994. Used for Book 1.4 and the Ares and Zeus assignment to Aquila.
- Anonymous of 379, The Treatise on the Bright Fixed Stars, translated by Robert Schmidt, The Golden Hind Press, 1993. Used for Altair's Jupiter and Mars group, angular readings and Capricorn co-rising degree.
- Bernadette Brady, Brady's Book of Fixed Stars, Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1998. Used for caring and courage, natal achievement, reported Ebertin opinion and named paran examples.
- Marcus Manilius, Astronomica, translated by G. P. Goold, Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd, 1977. Used for Book V's Eagle rising account and service to a king or general.
- Firmicus Maternus, Ancient Astrology: Theory and Practice, translated by Jean Rhys Bram, Noyes Press, 1975. Used for Book VIII.16's rising Eagle and the conditions for military or administrative responsibility.
Lunar Mansions
Altair serves as the determinant star for this lunar mansion across different traditions.
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