Vega Star Facts: Alpha Lyrae, the Brightest Star in Lyra
Vega, also known as Alpha Lyrae, is a bluish-white main-sequence star in Lyra, about 25 light-years from Earth. It is the fifth-brightest star in the night sky and one of the three stars of the Summer Triangle. In the Northern Hemisphere, Vega is easiest to spot on summer evenings, when it rises in the east and climbs high overhead. To make sure you’ve correctly identified Vega, use the free Sky Tonight app.
Contents
- Why is Vega so important?
- Vega (Alpha Lyrae) – key star facts
- Where is Vega? Location in Lyra and the Summer Triangle
- Vega myths
- Fun star facts about Vega
- Vega (Alpha Lyrae): FAQ
- Vega star facts: Bottom line
Why is Vega so important?
For thousands of years, the star Vega has been observed by humans, with records dating back to ancient Chinese, Arabic, and Greek astronomy. In recent history, astronomers chose it as a reference point for measuring other stars’ colors and apparent brightness. Today, scientists are studying Vega to learn about the early stages of stellar evolution and to understand how planetary systems form around young stars. As a bonus, Vega will be the next brightest North Star. Read on to find out some of its main features.
Vega (Alpha Lyrae) – key star facts
- Bayer designation: Alpha Lyrae, α Lyr
- Alternative names: Wega, Alf Lyr, Al-Waqi'
- Catalog designations: HIP 91262, HR 7001, HD 172167, TYC 3105-2070-1
- Constellation: Lyra
- Star type: class A0V main-sequence star
- Right ascension: 18 h 36 m 56.3 s
- Declination: +38° 47′ 01″
- Apparent magnitude: about 0.03
- Mass: 2.1 solar masses
- Luminosity: about 40 times more luminous than the Sun
- Radius (polar/equatorial): about 2.4 / 2.8 solar radii
- Temperature: about 9,600 K on average
- Distance from Earth: 25 light-years
- Rotation period: about 16 hours
Is Vega the brightest star in the sky?
No, the brightest star in the night sky is Sirius. Vega is the fifth brightest star, after Sirius, Canopus, Alpha Centauri, and Arcturus. Considering the northern celestial hemisphere, it ranks as the second-brightest star, after Arcturus in Bootes.
If you check Vega’s apparent brightness in a stargazing app, you’ll see that its magnitude equals zero. However, this doesn't mean Vega has no brightness. It means that it was historically used as a zero point for measuring stars’ brightness. Modern photometric systems use more precise calibrations, but Vega’s apparent magnitude is still very close to zero — about 0.03 — so it is often rounded to 0.0 for casual observing.
Watch our short video tutorial to learn how to explore the characteristics of the stars and other celestial objects in Sky Tonight.
The apparent brightness of the stars depends on their size, temperature, and distance from us. Vega hit the jackpot: it’s so bright because it's big, hot, and close to Earth. Vega is more than twice the Sun’s size, and its surface is more than 1.5 times hotter than the Sun’s. Because Vega spins very fast, it is slightly flattened: its equator is wider and cooler than its poles. It is also located about 25 light-years from Earth – a very close neighborhood for a star.
Get to know all the brightest stars in the sky with our colorful infographic.
Vega star color
From Earth, Vega appears as a bluish-white star. Astronomers classify it as “A0V”, meaning the following:
- The letter “A” denotes its surface temperature of about 10,000 K.
- The number 0 indicates that it’s the hottest among the 10 subclasses in its spectral type.
- The letter “V” indicates that it’s a main-sequence star going through its main phase of life as it fuses hydrogen into helium.
Vega is traditionally the zero point for the color index in the UBV system. The zero point in the system is “white”; hot stars with negative color indexes are called “blue,” and cool stars with positive indexes are “red.” But if so, why do we say Vega is bluish-white instead of pure white? That’s because these labels, which have a quantifiable basis, do not reflect how the human eye would perceive the colors of these stars.
How old is Vega?
Vega is a young star compared with the Sun: estimates usually place its age somewhere between roughly 450 and 700 million years. Still, Vega is aging much faster than the Sun because it is more massive. Its total main-sequence lifetime is much shorter — around 1 billion years — while our Sun will remain stable for another several billion years.
How fast does Vega spin?
Vega rotates on its axis about once every 16 hours. By comparison, the Sun takes 27 days to complete a full rotation. Spinning so fast makes Vega cooler and wider at its equator.
Where is Vega? Location in Lyra and the Summer Triangle
Vega is the brightest star of the Lyra constellation, one of the smallest constellations in the night sky. It is also part of a larger asterism known as the Summer Triangle. It’s easy to find Vega and other stars with stargazing apps like Sky Tonight. Read on to get the step-by-step guide.
Where is Vega in the sky tonight?
Vega can be observed almost directly overhead during midsummer nights at mid-northern latitudes. At other times of the year, it’s still visible at night in the Northern Hemisphere but stays lower above the horizon. In the Southern Hemisphere, the star appears low in the northern sky and is best seen during the local winter months.
How to find Vega star – the Summer Triangle star
To find Vega in the sky, look for the Summer Triangle, a prominent asterism made up of Vega in Lyra, Altair in Aquila, and Deneb in Cygnus. Vega is the brightest of the three and can be seen as a bright bluish-white star. In the summer of the Northern Hemisphere, it rises in the east right after it gets dark. It’s hard to confuse it with anything else because Vega is the brightest star in that direction. Once you’ve found it, look to the lower right for Altair and to the lower left for Deneb. In the Southern Hemisphere, the Triangle will appear upside down, rising low on the northern horizon.
Check out our easy-to-find stars infographic for a visual representation.
How to locate Vega with the Sky Tonight app?
You can quickly locate Vega with the help of the stargazing app Sky Tonight by following these simple steps:
- Open the app’s search bar and type “Vega.”
- Tap the blue target button to the right of the matching result. The app will show you the star's position on the sky map.
- Tap the blue compass button at the bottom right of the screen. The app will use your device’s location to align the screen image with the real sky above you.
- Move your device following the white arrow until you see Vega on the screen and in the real sky.
Vega myths
Vega was mentioned in many ancient myths, including Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Greek, and Arabic. Some of these myths have left their marks on the name of the star and its constellation.
Arabic name – falling eagle
The name Vega came from the Bedouin Arabic expression “an-nasr al-wāqi',” meaning “the swooping eagle or vulture,” where “wāqi'” refers to “falling” or “swooping.” Along with its partner, Altair, known as “the flying eagle or vulture,” Vega was famous in Arabian astronomy since the early 6th century CE. They were mentioned in various texts and poetry.
Greek myth – the Harp star
The ancient Greeks called Vega’s constellation “Lyra” or “the Harp.” According to the myth, this celestial lyre was a musical instrument belonging to Orpheus, the legendary musician. After Orpheus was killed, Zeus sent an eagle (Aquila) to retrieve the harp, and both were placed in the sky.
Love story of Altair and Vega
A celestial couple of Altair and Vega inspired beautiful love stories in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cultures. In Chinese folklore, Altair represents Niulang, a cowherd, and Vega represents Zhinü, the weaving girl. The two fell in love but were separated by the Milky Way, or Celestial River, and were only allowed to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month at the time of the Qixi Festival. In a similar Japanese legend, the couple was allowed to reunite once a year during the Tanabata festival. And in the Korean version, the lovers reunite once a year during the Chilseok festival.
Fun star facts about Vega
The first star to be photographed
On the night of July 16–17, 1850, Vega became the first star other than our Sun to be photographed. Astronomers John Adams Whipple and William Cranch Bond captured the star using the daguerreotype technique. They focused Vega's light on a photosensitive silver-plated copper sheet and used a long exposure with the 15-inch refractor at Harvard College Observatory.
Over two decades later, in August 1872, the star made history again. This time, amateur astronomer Henry Draper photographed Vega's spectrum. The breakdown of Vega's light into its component colors helped scientists reveal its chemical composition.
Does Vega have planets?
No planets have been confirmed around Vega yet. But the star is surrounded by a broad disk of dust and debris — the kind of material that can tell astronomers a lot about how planetary systems form and evolve.
Astronomers have studied Vega’s disk with several space telescopes, including Spitzer, Hubble, and the James Webb Space Telescope. Earlier observations suggested that the disk might contain belt-like structures, somewhat similar to our Solar System’s asteroid and Kuiper belts. More recent Hubble and Webb observations show a surprisingly smooth disk, with warm dust closer to the star and colder material farther out.
A 2021 study reported a possible signal from a close-in planet candidate around Vega. If it exists, the object could be Neptune-like and extremely hot because it orbits very close to the star. However, this planet remains unconfirmed, so Vega is still best described as a star with a debris disk — not as a confirmed planetary system.
Our past and future North Star
Our modern Polaris seems motionless, but it slowly shifts across the sky in a circuit that takes about 26,000 years, giving way to other stars near the north celestial pole. This motion is due to the precession of the Earth's axis. Around 12,000 BCE, the Paleolithic people observed Vega as the North Star instead of Alpha Ursae Minoris. And in the future, around AD 13,700, Vega will become the North Star again.
Waymark to the Lyrid meteor shower
Vega is a reference point to see one of the prolific meteor showers – April Lyrids. The star shines near the shower’s radiant, so check that it’s high above the horizon to determine the ideal time for catching the “shooting stars.”
Vega (Alpha Lyrae): FAQ
What is Vega?
Vega, or Alpha Lyrae, is a bright bluish-white main-sequence star in the constellation Lyra.
What constellation is Vega in?
Vega is in Lyra, a small northern constellation. It is the brightest star in Lyra.
What color is Vega?
Vega appears bluish-white and is classified as an A0V main-sequence star.
Where is Vega in the sky tonight?
At mid-northern latitudes, Vega is best seen from late spring through autumn. On summer evenings, it rises in the east, climbs high overhead, and becomes one of the easiest stars to identify. In the Southern Hemisphere, Vega stays low in the northern sky and is best seen during the local winter months.
Is Vega the brightest star?
No. Vega is the fifth-brightest star in the night sky, but it is the brightest star in Lyra.
Vega star facts: Bottom line
Vega is one of the brightest stars in the sky and plays a unique role in astronomy. For a long time, it was used as a reference point for measuring stars’ brightness and color, and now it continues to be studied because of its fast rotation and surrounding debris disk. In about 12,000 years, it will be the new North Star, the brightest of the following millennia. Get to know this brilliant star better and find it in the sky above you with the help of Sky Tonight!
