dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (08/21/84)
Vega is the brightest star in a pattern known as the Summer Triangle. More about Vega -- right after this. August 14: The Harp Star The Summer Triangle isn't a constellation -- instead, it's a large star pattern, consisting of three bright stars. You can see the Summer Triangle overhead in this month's evening sky. It covers a large area of sky -- and again isn't a constellation but just a pattern of three bright stars. The brightest of these three stars is Vega, also known as the Harp Star. Vega is located in the constellation Lyra, which represents a lyre -- or kind of harp -- whose music was so sweet that men, beasts and even gods were unable to resist it. It's said that Pluto, the god of the underworld, wept tears of iron when he heard the music of Lyra. The star Vega in the constellation Lyra is the brightest STAR in the August sky -- although there are some brighter PLANETS up there, too -- Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. In August, Vega is nearly overhead at around 10:00 p.m. It's exceptional not only for its great brilliance -- but also for its color -- sapphire blue. The star Vega used to be a pole star -- at one time, it was located directly ABOVE the axis of the Earth. Like the hub of a wheel, the pole star stays fixed in one spot while the other stars circle around it. Earth's precessional motion has now caused our axis to move more toward another star -- which we call Polaris. But precession is a cycle -- and Earth's axis will again come around to point toward Vega -- in another 12 thousand years. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1983, 1984 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin