Constellations · Constellation · Lyrae · Lyr
Constellation
Lyra
The lyre of Orpheus, whose music could charm stones. Its star Vega was the first star ever photographed and will be our pole star again.
- Genitive
- Lyrae
- Area
- 286 square degrees · 52nd of 88
- Brightest star
- Vega · magnitude 0.03
- Naked-eye stars
- 71 brighter than magnitude 6.5
- Highest at midnight
- late June
Myth
Orpheus played so beautifully that Hades let him lead his wife Eurydice out of the underworld — so long as he never looked back. He did.
History
Vega was the first star after the Sun to be photographed, in 1850, and the standard against which star brightnesses were measured. In 12,000 years it will be the pole star.
Look for
Next to Vega, Epsilon Lyrae is the “Double Double” — two stars by eye, four in a telescope. Between the bottom stars of the lyre is the Ring Nebula.