Lyra constellation
Latin Lyra, genitive Lyrae, abbreviation Lyr
North up, east to the left, as you see the sky. The lines are a common figure; the stars are from the catalogue.
The myth
The lyre of Orpheus, whose playing softened stones and with which he tried to bring Eurydice back from the underworld. Small, but with Vega, the fifth brightest star in the sky. Vega was the first star ever photographed, in 1850, and in about 12,000 years it will be the pole star.
When can Lyra be seen?
It stands highest around 10 pm in July. It can be seen from everywhere north of 43°S, and it never sets north of 57°N.
The brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vega | α Lyr | 0.03 | white |
| Sulafat | γ Lyr | 3.24 | bluish |
| Sheliak | β Lyr | 3.45 | white |
| – | 13 Lyr | 4.04 | reddish |
| – | δ2 Lyr | 4.30 | reddish |
| – | κ Lyr | 4.33 | orange |
| Nasr Alwaki | ζ1 Lyr | 4.36 | white |
| – | θ Lyr | 4.36 | orange |
The smaller the number, the brighter: below 1 are the brightest stars of the sky, 4 is hard to see under a city sky. Greek letters after Johann Bayer (1603).
Meteors
The Lyrids radiate from Lyra: when they fall and how to see them.