There are a number of bird constellations winging their way onto the celestial stage. One of the more than 60 constellations we can see is Aquila the Eagle.
According to Greek mythology, Aquila was the favorite pet of Zeus, the king of the gods of Mount Olympus.
Right now in the early evening, about 8 p.m., Aquila is soaring in the southern sky, halfway from the horizon to the overhead zenith in the Milky Way Band, the thickest part of our home galaxy.
The main part of Aquila resembles a sideways diamond that basically outlines the wingspan of the eagle. Unfortunately there aren’t any real stars that make up the eagle’s head. You need to use your full imagination to see that.
On the lower right side of the diamond is a faint crooked line of stars that allegedly outlines the tail of the attacking eagle.
To the lower right of the tail is a very faint and nondescript constellation called Scutum the Shield, a cute little open star cluster of young stars. It’s formally known as Messier Object 11 or M11, but its nickname is the “The Wild Duck Cluster.”
You should be able to easily see it with a small to moderate telescope or even with a good pair of binoculars. Some say it resembles a duck landing on a lake. I’ve tried to see the ducky in that cluster, but I’m afraid it’s lost to me.
Astronomically M11 is a young cluster of about 500 stars only about 220 million years old, which makes them toddler stars. The Wild duck lies a little more than 6,000 light-years away, with just one year equaling nearly six trillion miles.
The brightest star of Aquila is Altair, marking Aquila’s heart. Altair is easy to find because it is one of three bright Summer Triangle stars that, even though we’re just about at midautumn, is presently hanging nearly overhead in high in the southern sky.
The Summer Triangle isn’t an official constellation but its stars, Altair, Vega, and Deneb, are the brightest stars in that part of the sky, and each one of them is the brightest star in its own constellation. Altair is the moderately bright star on the lower right corner of the triangle.
Let’s getback to Aquila’s story. Before he became Zeus’ favorite pet, the king of the gods commissioned Aquila the Eagle to seek out a servant boy for the gods of Mount Olympus,
Aquila swooped down and plucked up a shepherd named Ganymede and flew him up to Mount Olympus. At first Ganymede missed his family and his sheep, but in time the job grew on him.
Zeus was grateful to Aquila and soon adopted the faithful eagle as a pet. After a little training he trusted Aquila with noble duties, such as occasionally delivering Zeus’ thunderbolts to Earth.
Aquila became Zeus’ personal messenger and his diabolical “hit bird.” Anytime Zeus felt it necessary to enforce or punish, he called on Aquila with his razor sharp beak to carve the violator up. The evil eagle would punish mortals and gods alike with great dispatch and no mercy.
There’s one story about how Zeus wanted to punish Prometheus, one of the old gods of the Titan family, because he gave humans the gift of fire. Zeus thought this was too great of a gift to bestow on mere mortals.
Zeus had Prometheus chained naked to a pillar, and every single day from dawn to dusk Aquila tore through his flesh and chewed up his liver. Since Prometheus was a god and immortal, his liver healed up every night, only to be pecked and chewed by the razor beak of Aquila the next day.
Mike Lynch is author of the book, “Washington Starwatch,” available at bookstores. Check his website, www.lynchandthestars.com.
The Everett Astronomical Society: www.everettastro.org/.
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