Based upon parallax measurements made by the Gaia spacecraft on its third data release (DR3), this star is located at a distance of roughly 272 parsecs (890 light-years).

[4] Radial velocity measurements could not find a satisfactory fit, which suggests that the orbit of η Aql B may be face-on, or very large.

Measurements with the HST fine guidance sensors show variations likely to be due to orbital motion on a scale of two years, so η Aql would appear to be a triple system.

[4][5] At Eta Aquilae's distance (272 pc), its apparent brightness is diminished by 0.74 magnitudes due to extinction caused by interstellar dust between Earth and the star.

This massive star, being 100–200 million years old,[9] has burned through the hydrogen fuel at its core and evolved into a supergiant, giving it a baseline stellar classification of F6 Iab.

[19] Consequently, the Chinese name for η Aquilae itself is 天桴四 (Tiān Fú sì, English: the Fourth Star of Celestial Drumstick.