Lira
Lyre (Lyrae)
Lyra is a small but prominent constellation dominated by Vega, the fifth brightest star in the entire night sky. Vega is one of the vertices of the Summer Triangle and was the northern pole star around 12,000 BCE. Despite its small size, Lyra contains several notable deep-sky objects, including the famous Ring Nebula (M57), one of the most observed planetary nebulae.
📜 Mitología
Lyra represents the lyre (or harp) of Orpheus, the legendary musician whose playing could charm all living things and even move stones. After Orpheus was killed by the Maenads, Zeus placed his lyre among the stars. In East Asian astronomy, Vega represents Zhinü, the Weaver Girl from the romantic legend of The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl (Qixi), where she is separated from her lover Altair by the Milky Way.
💡 Datos curiosos
- ✦Vega was the first star other than the Sun to be photographed (in 1850) and the first to have its spectrum recorded
- ✦The Ring Nebula (M57) is a planetary nebula about 2,300 light-years away, easily visible in small telescopes
- ✦Due to precession, Vega will become the North Star in approximately 14,000 years