Gamma Aquilae

Lore & Background

Gamma Aquilae is a relatively young star, about 270 million years old, but it has already evolved into a bright giant after exhausting the hydrogen in its core. It is now fusing helium into carbon and will eventually become a white dwarf. The star has 3.5 times the mass of the Sun and has expanded to 92 times its radius, radiating over 2,100 times the Sun's luminosity. Its effective temperature of 4,098 K gives it the orange hue typical of K-type stars. A 1991 catalogue reported possible brightness variation, but this has not been confirmed. The star is a known source of X-ray emission, likely from a hot corona.

Reader's Guide

Gamma Aquilae holds significance as a bright giant star that illustrates the later stages of stellar evolution for a moderately massive star. Its traditional name Tarazed, derived from Persian, links it to an asterism with Alpha and Beta Aquilae, reflecting historical astronomical traditions. The star's location near an emission nebula, first reported in 2023, adds to its interest, though it is not the nebula's ionization source. In Chinese astronomy, it is part of the River Drum asterism and appears in the folk tale of The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. The Koori people of Victoria associated it with the black swan wives of Bunjil. Its confirmed properties, including mass, radius, and luminosity, provide a benchmark for studying evolved stars, while its unconfirmed variability and X-ray emission invite further investigation.

Did You Know?

• Gamma Aquilae has the proper name Tarazed, approved by the IAU Working Group on Star Names in 2016.
• The star is a known X-ray source, with emission likely originating from its hot corona.
• In Chinese astronomy, Gamma Aquilae is called the Third Star of River Drum.
• The Koori people of Victoria knew Beta and Gamma Aquilae as the black swan wives of Bunjil.