The constellation of Lyra, the Lyre // E. Slawik/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani
Click below for some info about this small (but important!) constellation as well as some info about its named stars. As always, an annotated image is included too!
Lyra, which is Latin for "lyre," is one of the original 48 constellation set down by Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century.
In Greek mythology, Lyra is the lyre carried by Orpheus. It was said that Orpheus's music was so great that even inanimate objects were charmed. It was this skill that saved him, Jason, and the Argonauts from the dangerous Sirens. He eventually used his musical skills to charm even Hades as he attempted to rescue his wife, Eurydice, from the Underworld. Unfortunately, his task was not successful, and he wandered aimlessly through the land, strumming his lyre and rejecting any other women.
Also, you should listen to Sara Bareilles' song Orpheus.
The named stars are, in order of brightness:
Vega (α Lyrae), the brightest star in Lyra and the fifth-brightest star in the night sky. Vega is a solitary blue-white giant star about 25 light years away. Astronomers have extensively studied Vega, making it one of the well-known stars in the sky after the Sun. Its brightness sets the standard for how astronomers talk about brightnesses of other stars, called the magnitude system. Its name comes from the Arabic word wāqi' meaning "falling."
Sulafat (γ Lyrae) is a blue giant star about 620 light years from Earth. Its name comes from the Arabic word al-sulḥafāt meaning "turtle." The connection here is that harps were once commonly made from tortoiseshell.
Sheliak (β Lyrae) is a sextuple star system about 960 light years from Earth. It consists of a blue supergiant, two blue giants, a red dwarf, and two Sun-like stars. Its name comes from the Arabic word šiliyāq which was one of the names of Lyra in Arabic astronomy.
Aladfar (η Lyrae) is a probable binary star system about 1,390 light years from Earth. It consists of at least a blue giant star. Its name comes from the Arabic word al-ʼuẓfur meaning "talons," since some Arabic astronomers viewed Lyra not as a harp, but as a vulture.
Xihe (HD 173416) is a yellow giant star about 433 light years away. It has one confirmed exoplanet orbiting it, about twice the mass of Jupiter, named Wangshu. Both names were chosen by the people of China: Xihe is the goddess of the Sun in Chinese mythology as well as an early astronomer, and Wangshu is the goddess of the Moon.
Chasoň (HAT-P-5) is a Sun-like star about 1,013 light years away from Earth. It has one confirmed exoplanet orbiting it, about the same mass as Jupiter, named Král'omoc. Both names were given by the people of Slovakia: Chasoň is an ancient Slovak word for the Sun, while Král'omoc is an ancient Slovak word for Jupiter.
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.
