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Zeta Aquilae

double star in the equatorial constellation of Aquila

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 5, 2026
Entity authorityQ13212 ↗
Source-derived summary

Zeta Aquilae is a binary star system in the equatorial constellation of Aquila. Its name is a Bayer designation that is Latinized from ζ Aquilae, and abbreviated Zeta Aql or ζ Aql. This system is readily visible with the naked eye as a point of light, having a combined apparent visual magnitude of 2.983. Based on parallax measurements obtained during the Hipparcos mission, it is approximately 83 light-years (25 parsecs) distant from the Sun. It is a candidate member of the TW Hydrae association of co-moving stars.

Zeta Aquilae's two components can be designated Zeta Aquilae A and B. The former is officially named Okab, pronounced , the traditional name for the system. Zeta Aquilae has a number of companions listed and together they are designated WDS J19054+1352. As the primary star of this group, Zeta Aquilae also bears the designation WDS J19054+1352A. The companions are then designated WDS J19054+1352B, C, D and E.

Nomenclature

ζ Aquilae, Latinised to Zeta Aquilae, is the binary's Bayer designation. The designations of the two components as Zeta Aquilae A and B derive from the convention used by the Washington Multiplicity Catalog (WMC) for multiple star systems, and adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). WDS J19054+1352 is the entry of the wider system of which Zeta Aquilae is a member in the Washington Double Star Catalog.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Zeta Aquilae” is double star in the equatorial constellation of Aquila. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Zeta, Aquilae and double, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1352—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Zeta, Aquilae and double is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “double star in the equatorial constellation of Aquila” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q13212. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1352.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  2. Expand the search: follow Zeta Aquilae primary sources, Zeta Aquilae archive and Zeta research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Zeta Aquilae” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.