Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra and the fifth-brightest star in the night sky, a blue-white star 25 light-years away. It is the brightest corner of the Summer Triangle, high overhead on summer evenings in the Northern Hemisphere, and in about 12,000 years it will become Earth’s North Star.
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Vega at a glance
| Other names | Alpha Lyrae |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Lyra (the Lyre) |
| Brightness | Magnitude +0.03, fifth-brightest star |
| Distance | 25 light-years |
| Type | Blue-white main-sequence star (A0V) |
| Mass | About 2.1 Suns |
| Luminosity | About 40 times the Sun |
| Temperature | About 9,600 K |
| Rotation | Once every 12.5 hours (the Sun takes about 25 days) |
| Best time to see it | Evenings around August (highest at about 9 p.m.) |
| Where on Earth | Visible from everywhere north of about 51°S; never sets north of about 51°N |
The star that defines “zero”
For more than a century, Vega has been the reference point for measuring the brightness of stars. Astronomers defined the magnitude scale so that Vega has a magnitude of about 0 in every colour, and many brightness systems are still called “Vega magnitudes”. It was also a pioneer of astrophotography: in 1850 it became the first star other than the Sun to be photographed, on a daguerreotype taken at Harvard College Observatory, and in 1872 Henry Draper recorded the first photograph of a star’s spectrum, also of Vega.
A star spinning at high speed
Vega rotates once every 12.5 hours, close to the speed at which it would start to fly apart. The fast spin flattens it into an oval, with its equator about 20% wider than its poles, and makes the poles noticeably hotter than the equator. We happen to see Vega almost pole-on, which is why it took careful measurements in the 2000s to discover how fast it really spins.
Vega’s dust disk
In 1983 the IRAS infrared satellite found that Vega gives out more infrared light than expected, the first evidence of a ring of dust around a star other than the Sun. Such “debris disks” are made by colliding asteroids and comets and are signs of planet-building. In 2024 images from the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes showed that Vega’s disk is remarkably smooth, with no obvious gaps that a large planet would carve, which has made Vega a puzzle for planet hunters.
The Summer Triangle and how to find Vega
Vega forms the Summer Triangle with Deneb in Cygnus and Altair in Aquila. It is the brightest of the three and the easiest bright star to spot high in the sky on summer evenings in the Northern Hemisphere, when it can pass almost straight overhead from mid-northern latitudes. Its blue-white colour contrasts nicely with orange Arcturus, which lies to the west. In November Vega is low in the west-northwest after dusk; north of about 51°N (for example in London) it never sets, skimming the northern horizon on winter nights.
From the Southern Hemisphere Vega is always low in the north, and south of about 51°S it never rises. Next to Vega, binoculars show the “Double Double”, Epsilon Lyrae, a famous pair of double stars, and a small telescope reveals the Ring Nebula (M57) in Lyra.
Vega: the North Star of the future
Earth’s axis slowly traces a circle on the sky every 26,000 years. Today it points close to Polaris, but in about 12,000 years it will point within a few degrees of Vega, which will become a brilliant pole star. Vega was also the pole star roughly 14,000 years ago.
Vega in stories and culture
In East Asia, Vega is the Weaver Girl (Zhinü in China, Orihime in Japan) and Altair, across the Milky Way, is the Cowherd. The lovers are separated by the river of stars and allowed to meet only once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, a story celebrated as the Qixi festival in China and Tanabata in Japan. In Indian astronomy Vega is linked with Abhijit, a nakshatra that appears in some older lists of lunar mansions. In modern culture it is famous as the source of the alien radio signal in Carl Sagan’s novel and film Contact.
Vega is also a good star for testing your eyes and equipment. Because it is bright, nearly white and high in the sky for northern observers, astronomers and photographers use it to focus cameras and telescopes and to check colour balance. Its brightness is steady enough for the naked eye that it makes a handy comparison star when judging how bright a planet, a comet or a passing satellite looks.
Frequently asked questions about Vega
How far away is Vega?
Vega is about 25 light-years away, which makes it one of the closest bright stars to the Sun.
What colour is Vega?
Vega is blue-white, because its surface is hotter than the Sun’s, at about 9,600 K on average.
When can I see Vega?
From the Northern Hemisphere it is best on summer and early autumn evenings, high overhead. In November it is low in the west after dark.
Will Vega become the North Star?
Yes. Because of the slow wobble of Earth’s axis, Vega will lie near the north celestial pole in about 12,000 years.
Does Vega have planets?
No planet has been confirmed. Vega has a large dusty debris disk, and in 2024 Webb and Hubble images showed it is unusually smooth.
Sources: Vega overview and references. Star data from standard catalogues; positions and rise/set times are calculated by SpaceTracker.live with the Astronomy Engine library.