Lyra, the Lyre, is a small northern constellation of the summer sky, a parallelogram of faint stars hanging from Vega, a brilliant white star of the Summer Triangle.
At a glance
| stars in the figure | 6 |
|---|---|
| nearest star of the figure | Vega, 25 light-years (7.68 pc) |
| farthest star of the figure | Sheliak, 962 light-years (295 pc) |
| depth | the farthest is 38 × farther than the nearest |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Lyra
Lyra is the lyre of Orpheus in Greek myth, a compact figure dominated by Vega, a hot white star close to the Sun and among the brightest in the night sky. Vega is surrounded by a disc of cold dust, found by its infrared glow. As Earth’s axis slowly wobbles, the pole drifts across the sky, and in the far future Vega will again be the northern pole star.
Beside Vega, Epsilon Lyrae is the Double Double: a pair to sharp eyes, and each of those a pair again in a telescope. Between Sheliak and Sulafat lies the Ring Nebula, the glowing shell thrown off by a dying star. Sheliak itself is a pair of stars so close that gas flows from one to the other, making its light rise and fall. Lyra stands overhead on northern summer nights.
What you see in the piece
Flown out to, Vega is a near neighbour while Sheliak lies far behind it, so the little parallelogram that hangs from Vega stretches into a long line pointing away from the Sun.
Questions
What is the Summer Triangle?
An asterism of three bright stars in three constellations: Vega in Lyra, Deneb in Cygnus and Altair in Aquila, high on northern summer evenings.
How far away are the stars of Lyra?
They range from Vega, 25 light-years (7.68 pc), to Sheliak, 962 light-years (295 pc): the farthest is 38 × farther than the nearest.