#epsilon lyrae

[quiltofstars]

The Double Double, ε Lyrae // Carlos Rincón

ε Lyrae, also known as the Double Double, is a quintuple star system about 160 light years from Earth.

[house-of-mirrors]

The tag "double double" is what I came up with for things involving my friends @thedeafprophet , @the-dye-stained-socialite , and @the-insouciant-scientist . It originates from the existence of a star system called "the double double" because it is at first glance a binary star but is actually TWO binary stars that orbit each other! We come in pairs and do a lot together as four!

However. A tragedy has struck the astronomy special interest department.

I had been referring to the scientific name of this star system as "beta lyrae" but then today was doing some research and realized I mixed up some names and the double double is actually called epsilon lyrae...

Years of academy training wasted (joke funnier because the original context is Star Command)

[quiltofstars]

The constellation of Lyra, the Lyre // jewzaam

Click below to learn more about the stars that make up this constellation!

In order of brightness,

Vega (α Lyrae) is the bright star at the upper left of the image. It is the brightest star in Lyra, the fifth-brightest in the night sky, and the second-brightest visible in the Northern Hemisphere. It is a blue-white giant star about 25 light years from the Sun. It has about twice the mass and a little over twice the size of the Sun. The name comes from the Arabic word wāqi' meaning "falling" or "landing".

Sulafat (γ Lyrae) is the second brightest star, a blue giant star about 620 light years from Earth. It is about 6 times as massive and 13 times the size of the Sun. Its name comes from the Arabic word al-sulḥafāt meaning "turtle", connecting lyres with their material: tortoiseshell.

Sheliak (β Lyrae) is a multiple star system, consisting of six stars at a distance of about 960 light years from Earth. The primary star is a blue giant about 3 times the mass and 15 times the size of the Sun. The name comes from the Arabic word šiliyāq which was one of the names for Lyra in Arabic astronomy.

δ² Lyrae is a red supergiant star about 770 light years from the Sun. Although it is only 4.5 times as massive, it is almost 300 times the size of the Sun!

ζ¹ Lyrae is a binary star system about 156 light years from Earth. The primary is a blue-white chemically peculiar star about 2.5 times the size and mass of the Sun.

ε² Lyrae is a binary star system that forms one half of "the Double Double". This system lies about 156 light years from Earth. The primary is a blue-white giant star about 2.1 times the mass of the Sun.

ε¹ Lyrae is another binary system and the other half of "the Double Double". This system is marginally more distant at 162 light years away. The primary is a blue-white star about twice the mass of the Sun.

δ¹ Lyrae is the optical companion to δ² Lyrae; the two systems are unrelated. δ¹ Lyrae is a binary star system composed of a blue star and an orange giant. The entire system is about 1,160 light years away.

Finally, ζ² Lyrae is a single white-hued star about 158 light years from the Sun. It has about 1.75 times the mass of the Sun and is about twice as big.

[quiltofstars]

The constellation of Lyra, the lyre // Dark Rangers

The bright star to the right is Vega (α Lyrae). The name "Vega" comes from the Arabic phrase al nesr al waki, meaning "the falling eagle/vulture." This is the last remnant of Lyra's association with a vulture instead of a lyre.

The other stars that make up Lyra are:

Sulafat (γ Lyrae, center left), with a name that comes from the Arabic al sulḥafāt, meaning "turtle." The connection with turtles is that fine harps were traditionally made of tortoiseshell.

Shellak (β Lyrae, lower left), with a name that comes from the Arabic al shilyāk, one of the names of Lyra in Islamic astronomy.

δ Lyrae (above center), a double star, with one of the pair being a binary system.

ζ Lyrae (right of center), another double star with one of the pair also being a binary system.

ε Lyrae (above Vega), known as the Double Double, a multiple star system of at least five stars.

[calorionsstarchive]

Double Double (Epsilon Lyrae)

[jmonterol]

Epsilon Lyrae 2

Esta es una célebre estrella doble cercana a Vega, en la constelación de Lira, a 162 AL de casa. Se trata de una doble-doble. Me explico: con unos simples prismáticos se resuelve en dos estrellas, pero con un telescopio cada una a su vez se desdobla en dos. El par de la imagen es Epsilon Lyrae 2, el par meridional. Epsilon Lyrae 1 está fuera de la foto.

Maksutov Cassegrain 127. Camara imx 294.

[leisurelyscientist]

Epsilon Lyrae - The Double Double Star of Lyra

Epsilon Lyrae – The Double Double Star of Lyra

Epsilon Lyrae is the famous “double-double” star in the constellation Lyra (see below for the location). It lies very close to the star VEGA. The two brightest stars in the binary system can be seen with the naked eye under good conditions and with good eyesight, both stars lie around 162 light years from Earth and they orbit each other. At the time of this posting, Lyra is high in the Western…

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[artyomgrislisdiary]

ε Lyr