Vega
Product information
Description
Vega dazzles with a cold blue-white radiance and is one of the brightest and most prominent stars in the summer sky. Its near-zenith position for northern observers makes it a nightly fixture and a beacon of astronomical history.
Additional Information
- Constellation
- Lyra
- Spectral Type
- A0V
- Apparent Magnitude
- 0.03
- Distance (Light Years)
- 25
- Right Ascension
- 18h 36m 56.3s
- Declination
- +38° 47′ 01″
- Solar Masses
- 2.1
- Radius (Solar)
- 2.3
- Temperature (Kelvin)
- 9600
- Age (Million Years)
- 455
Discovery
- Ancient Civilizations
- Greeks, Chinese, Arabs
- Historical Significance
- Vega has been an object of fascination since antiquity. In the 19th century, it became the first star (after the Sun) to be photographed and have its spectrum recorded, making it a foundational star in modern astrophysics. It was also once the North Star around 12,000 BCE and will be again in about 13,000 years due to axial precession.
Cultural Significance
- Mythology
- In Chinese mythology, Vega represents Zhinü, the weaver girl who is separated from her lover (represented by the star Altair) by the Milky Way, only reuniting once a year. In Arab tradition, Vega was seen as one of the ‘falling vultures’ due to its motion across the sky.
- Navigation
- Vega’s exceptional brightness and position near the celestial equator made it a useful point of reference for early navigators, especially in the Northern Hemisphere.
- Modern Reference
- Vega is part of the famous Summer Triangle asterism and has featured in modern science fiction, including as the destination of the alien signal in Carl Sagan’s *Contact*.
Notable Features
- Stellar Motion
- Vega has a relatively high proper motion and is moving closer to Earth at about 13.9 km/s.
- Additional Fact
- Vega is often used as a baseline for calibrating brightness and color in photometric systems, and it's surrounded by a dusty debris disk—possibly the remnants of planet formation.
User Dedications
- Dedications
- This star has not been claimed yet. Be the first to dedicate it to someone special!