There are three meteor showers associated with the constellation the Lyrids. March 1: Venus and Jupiter Conjunction. so it is difficult to see. RR Lyrae variables have about half the Suns mass and are believed to have been similar to the Sun at some point. Or use this guide to easily see which constellations are easiest to find right now: Neighbouring constellations: Cygnus (east), Hercules (west), Draco (north), Brightest star: Vega, +0.03 magnitude (5th brightest star in the night sky), Primary stars: 6 (4 stars in a diamond attached to a triangle in a figure 8 shape), Latitude: 30 degrees north 40 degrees south, Northern Hemisphere Season: Summer (January December). Lyra is a northern celestial hemisphere constellation. With a magnitude of 0.03, it is also the second brightest star in the northern sky. This is a Hubble Space Telescope image. His lyre was carried to heaven by the Muses, who also collected the fragments of his body and buried them below Mount Olympus. In November 2009, a substellar companion, Gliese 758 b, was discovered in the stars orbit. It has an apparent magnitude of 9.5 and is approximately 13,30 light years distant from the solar system. Officially, Lyra is a lyre a stringed instrument of the harp family used to accompany a singer or reader of poetry . Lyra constellation pronunciation is Lie-rah. If you want to see it early, you will need to stay up later as it appears later in the night. Wherever the interstellar clouds of the two galaxies collide, they do not freely move past each other without interruption but, rather, suffer a damaging collision. Delta-1 Lyrae is a binary star system with an orbital period of about 88 days. Vega is the fifth brightest star in the sky and second brightest star in the northern hemisphere. "How to Find the Lyra Constellation in the Night Sky." He left people, beasts, and even inanimate objects awestruck by the music he played. When the Argonauts approached the islands, Orpheus drew his lyre and played music that drowned out the Sirens calls. She was bitten on the heel. The system usually has an apparent magnitude of 18, but during outbursts the magnitude reaches 13.6. IC 1296 is a barred spiral galaxy in Lyra constellation. M56 lies halfway between the stars Albireo (Beta Cygni) in Cygnus constellation and Sulafat, Gamma Lyrae. This beacon of warmer weather is observable in the northern hemisphere much of the year but is highest in the sky in July-August. They are the three brightest star in this area of the sky and are prominent and easy to identify. Orpheus spent the rest of his life roaming aimlessly playing his lyre. Orpheus met his end at the hands of Thracian Maenads, who ripped him to shreds for not honouring Dionysus. Lyra. It is a multistar system with a triple star and another star with 5 components. When he was young, god Apollo gave him a golden lyre and taught him to play it, and his mother taught him to write verses. The distance from earth is 25 light years. The most famous story involving Orpheus is that of the death of his wife Eurydice. It is almost 24 times brighter than the Sun. Lyra, the Lyre, is a type of small harp held in the player's lap. Mid evening viewers (21:00-23:30) can find the constellation from May in the eastern sky until November in the western sky. RR Lyrae has evolved from the main sequence, passed through the red giant stage and is now in the horizontal branch (HB) stage of evolution, powered by helium fusion in its core and hydrogen fusion in the shell surrounding the core. If you look at the sky with binoculars, you will see even more stars. It is a suspected variable star and a rapid rotator, with a projected rotational velocity of 274 km/s at the equator. At 450 million years old, Vega is considered a young star. Ring Nebula Messier object 57 which appears with a green core and red outer ring. It is located around 26.5 light years away from the Sun. "Lyra Constellation Facts & Features". Lyra constellation will be visible overhead in August. Altair the second brightest star and is furthest west. Its brightest star is Vega, the fifth brightest star in the sky, with a magnitude of 0.03. Look first for Venus, the brightest object in the sky (other than the Moon), which is positioned just half a degree to the right of Jupiter. Ref: University of Michigan. The Constellation of Lyra is a Motherland for the Lyran Race which is considered to be one of the oldest Races in the Universe, older . Once there, his song deeply moved Hades and his wife Persephone and they agreed to return Eurydice to the world of the living on one condition: Orpheus should walk in front of her and not look back until they both had reached the upper world. It is thought to be around 455 million years old, which is about a half of its life expectancy, and is 2.1 times as massive as the Sun. The Double Double, also known as Epsilon Lyrae, is a multiple star system with an apparent magnitude of 4.7. The two orbit each other with a period of 12.9414 days and periodically eclipse each other. Lyra Constellation Photos. Its approximate location is about 12 million light-years from our Solar System. These constellations formed the basis for the modern list agreed by the IAU. Orpheus and Eurydice started walking and, as much as he wanted to, he did not look back. Mar 1, 2023. . . To know how far back we are looking, take the distance and remove the word "Light", and you will get an idea of how long ago they looked like that. 2020-12-30. The binary stars of Lyra's harp-shaped constellation have an apparent visual magnitude between 5.5 and 9.8. Similarly there is a nearby star in the direction of Altair that marks the third corner of the triangle. The parallelogram or diamond is the ring and the triangle represents the diamond in a 2D view. For this table, the player must zoom in quite a bit to fully align the puzzle and make it click. His music was so impressive that even inanimate objects would be moved by it. The Pointers: The two stars forming the front edge of the Big Dipper's bowl (on the side away from the handle) point to Polaris, the north star, in the constellation . It is thought to be about 13.70 billion years old. Lyra constellation can be seen from most of the year at some time in the northern hemisphere night but can be found high in the sky at 21:00 during the month of August: As time passes the constellation will gradually appear earlier in the night with ranges below showing the window of opportunity in each month. Petersen, Carolyn Collins. Epsilon-1 Lyrae, the northern component in the system, is a double star consisting of components that are only 2.35 arc seconds apart. The entire constellation is small and is less than one quarter the distance to Altair for the furthest star. In Wales, the constellation is known as King Arthurs Harp (Talyn Arthur) or King Davids Harp. This means that it is fairly easy to see in the night sky, especially with its brightness. NGC 6745B, has passed through the larger one and is now moving away from it. Come with us and spend a night under the stars. It is classified as a variable star. In our own Milky Way galaxy, the space between our Sun and our nearest stellar neighbor, Proxima Centauri (part of the Alpha Centauri triple system), is a vast 4.3 light-years. If you have a telescope, you will see even more! As a result, the other star is now surrounded by an accretion disk, one that makes it difficult to pinpoint the stars exact stellar type. The other component, Epsilon-2 Lyrae, contains stars that are separated by 2.3 arc seconds and have magnitudes of 5.1 and 5.5. Lyrid meteor shower. This pressure, in turn, produces material densities sufficiently extreme as to trigger star formation through gravitational collapse. Find & Download the most popular Lyra Constellation PSD on Freepik Free for commercial use High Quality Images Made for Creative Projects. It is best seen at 9pm during the month of August. Typically someone trying to find a star will want to see how it appears in the night sky so an optical survey is best. It has an apparent magnitude of 3.52 and is approximately 960 light years distant from Earth. . The other stars within Lyra are in the direction of Altair, the star to the south of the Summer Triangle. If you wish to view it earlier in the year, you will need to stay out longer. It was first catalogued by the astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. Its right ascension is 18h 14m to 19h 28m and its declination is 25.66 to 47.71. It was first discovered in 1779 by French astronomer Charles Messier. It has an apparent magnitude of 4.30 and is approximately 740 light years distant. As a result, their apparent magnitude varies. The 3 stars in the triangle are all very close to each other and equidistant apart. Look next to it for the famous Epsilon Lyrae, a double-double star . The Zodiac constellations are the ones astrologers use to predict a person's future based on their birth date. It has an apparent magnitude of 4.7. Lyra is the 52nd largest constellation out of the 88 modern constellations and occupies an area of 286 square degrees. The dimmest star that a person can see on a clear night with their naked eye is 6.0 magnitude based on the table in the reference. Also known as NGC 6779, Messier 56 is a cluster in Lyra. Images 1.33k. However you prefer to imagine it the shape is a triangle attached to a parallelogram starting at Vega and moving towards Altair. NCMC professor David Rodgers explains the constellations and galaxies that can be seen during the summer in northern Michigan. You can see some of these stars by observing the sky on a dark night. But it's impact on our planet started long before time was invented. From Earths perspective, the nebula looks like a simple elliptical shape with a shaggy boundary. Look in all directions including diagonally and backwards to find the hidden words.The constellations included are: Aquarius, Aquila, Aries, Canis Major, Cassiopeia, Cygnus, Drago, Gemini, Leo, Lyra, Orion, Orion, Pegasus, Pisces, Scorpius, Taurus, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor This would make a fun activity for an . Messier 56 is a globular cluster in Lyra constellation. . Libra is right next to Virgo, not far from the star Spica. It has between 30 and 40 Jupiter masses. When he passed, his lyre was thrown into a river. Looking more like a globular, the cluster is home to nearly 400 suns and is ~13,300 light-years away. https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-find-the-lyra-constellation-4172784 (accessed March 4, 2023). Delta-2 Lyrae also a radius that is 200 times that of the Sun. Kappa Lyrae is an orange giant with the stellar classification of K2III that is also classified as a variable star. It contains stars that are 13th magnitude and about a dozen variables. July 11, 2022. Other interesting stars in Lyra include Lyrae, which is a double-double star, meaning that each of its two stars is a double star, as well. Typically, it is within the boundaries of the constellation or was once until they were redrawn. Orpheus spent the rest of his life in grief, playing his lyre. Just to the right of that point, you will see the show . The constellation is alongside Cygnus and with both have a bright prominent star are easily identified together. You may be surprised how many stars are visible to the naked eye. The primary star is a blue-white bright giant and has the stellar classification of B7II, while the secondary component is also believed to be a class B star. The best time to view the Lyrids is on the three nights around its peak. The form of the constellation is simple and therefore easy to form but not very inspiring. Look out for the Lyra Constellation. Gamma Lyrae is a relatively fast rotator, with a projected rotational velocity of 71-72 km/s. Orpheus married Eurydice, but she was killed by a snakebite, and Orpheus had to follow her to the underworld to get her back. Lyra is a northern summer constellation, which is highest in the midnight sky in the months around June. by admin. The name of the western constellation in modern Chinese is ( tin qn zu ), meaning . It can be located by moving from either of the last identified stars in a line parallel to the other star identified. Gas from the surface of the donor star is transferred to the accreting star, and the transfer of mass dominates the systems evolution. In English, the constellation is known as the Lyre. It is one of the oldest and most metal-rich clusters known in the Milky Way. As soon as he reached it, he turned around, but Eurydice was not quite there yet and she disappeared from his sight, for good this time. Find & Download the most popular Lyra Constellation Photos on Freepik Free for commercial use High Quality Images Over 23 Million Stock Photos. His music was able to quell the voices of the dangerous Sirens, who sang tempting songs to the Argonauts. Lyra represents the lyre of Orpheus, the musician and poet in Greek mythology who met his end at the hands of the Bacchantes. Once the Summer Triangle is identified it is useful as a reference for direction in the summer sky. View just after sunset. The separation between the two stars is very small and they form a spectroscopic binary. The brightest star in Lyra is Vega, about 25.05 light-years from the Sun. For observers with a good telescope, Lyra also contains a galaxy called NGC 6745. The Ring Nebula as seen by Hubble Space Telescope, with a white dwarf at the heart of the Ring Nebula. Zeus sent an eagle to get the lyre and placed both of them in the sky. The star is believed to have a circumstellar disk of dust, as it emits excess infrared radiation. See our favorites. Therefore, the further south your position the further north it will appear in the sky. degrees of the night sky, equating to 0.69% of the night sky. Northern hemisphere stargazers can group constellations into 3 groups; circumpolar, summer and winter constellations. The two stars orbit each other at a small angular separation (0.35) with a period of 5 years. Because of the distances of objects, we see how they looked in the past. The Ring Nebula belongs to the class of planetary nebulae known as bipolar nebulae. Each star marks a major constellation. It's also not far from the constellation Hercules, a hero honored by the Greeks in their pantheon of myths and legends. Delta-2 Lyrae is a red bright giant with the stellar classification M4 II. It has an apparent magnitude of 4.30 and is 6,500 times more luminous than the Sun. abundance of elements other than hydrogen and helium. . The secondary component is also believed to be a class B star. The Summer Triangle is a prominent asterism in the night sky throughout summer for northern hemisphere viewers. The difference between the magnitudes is that absolute magnitude is the object from 10 Parsecs or 32.6 light-years away from the observer, whereas apparent is from Earth. In the email will be a link to unsubscribe to further notifications. In Wales, Lyra is known as King Arthurs Harp (Talyn Arthur), and King Davids harp. To reclaim her, Orpheus entered the Underworld, where the music from his lyre charmed Hades. This also shows the location of two deep-sky objects observers can search out. The summer sky offers bright constellations in multitude. There's no real legend behind this one but it may be one of the Stymphalian birds that Hercules had to kill as part of his twelve labours. Lyrae (the second-brightest star in the constellation) is a binary star with two members that orbit so closely that occasionally material from one star spills over to other. This also shows the location of two deep-sky objects observers can search out. Their orbital period is about half that of the Epsilon-1 stars. She previously worked on a Hubble Space Telescope instrument team. Now, this first one in the South Hogwarts Region (the Lyra constellation) has been . The Ring Nebula was discovered by the French astronomer Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix in January 1779. Vega represents one point of the triangle section of the instrument. These are periodic variable stars usually found in globular clusters and frequently used to measure galactic distances, as the relationship between their pulsation period and absolute magnitude makes them excellent standard candles. While fleeing from an attack by Aristaeus, she stepped on a snake that bit her and killed her. Gamma Lyrae is sometimes known by its traditional names, Sulafat (Sulaphat) and Jugum. Sulafat is from the Arabic for turtle. The star is 59 times more luminous than the Sun and is thought to be about 800 million years old. The radiant of the Lyrid meteor shower is in the constellation of Lyra. While it is significantly brighter and larger than the Sun, it is also cooler than the Sun. The diamond is in fact more of a parallelogram being elongated towards Altair. Vega is 2.1 times as massive as the Sun, and only about a tenth of the Suns age. Main stars refer to the stars that make up the constellation outline. Astronomers will have to do more follow-up observations to determine what kind of planet it really is. As the earth moves in its orbit around the sun, each night you are looking at a different portion of the sky. Shape. The B7II star, now the less massive component, was once the more massive component in the system. As a result, the white dwarf is involved in periodic outbursts, presumably as a result of the instability in the accretion disk. Vega is also the second brightest star in the northern sky; only Arcturus is brighter. There's a Jupiter-mass planet circling an orange star called HD 177830. . By now, the object may look different. It will continue moving west until sunrise when it will be 70 degrees above the north west horizon. The night sky chart is interactive, so you can click on the settings, to the top left of the chart, to change date and time, or your latitude, to suit your own astronomical set-up. Mu Lyrae lies 2.5 degrees west-northwest of Vega. Lyra is one of the smallest constellations but contains one of the brightest stars. Sort by: The dimmest star you can see in Lyra with the naked eye is HD 175635. The parallelogram shape reflects the stringed section to play the instrument and the triangular section is the handle where the player holds the instrument. You can see it without using a telescope. The Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China. Messier 56, image: Wikimedia Commons/ Hewholooks (CC BY-SA 3.0). The nearest star to Earth that is located in the constellation of Lyra is Vega, about 25.05 light-years from the Earth. NGC 6791 is an open cluster in Lyra. The Ecliptic is the path that the Earth takes around the Sun. Lyra Constellation is one of 88 constellations recognised by the International Astronomical Union (I.A.U.). Unfortunately, near the very end, Orpheus did look back, causing Eurydice to be left in the Underworld forever. (2021, February 17). There is a nearby star in the direction of Deneb that forms the second corner of the Triangle. The galaxy can be seen 4 to the northwest of the Ring Nebula. The other object in Lyra is the globular star cluster M56. ThoughtCo, Feb. 17, 2021, thoughtco.com/how-to-find-the-lyra-constellation-4172784. (The number of meteors a single observer would see . Moderate. It will move around the sky before starting to disappear in December. Orpheus couldnt look back at his wife until he had reached the surface. The celestial hemispheres are a projection of the terrestrial hemisphere into the sky. Lyrae. Nearing the top, the anxious Orpheus couldnt bear not seeing his wife and, knowing not whether or not his wife was struggling, he looked back and lost her. It will reach 70 degrees above the north east horizon by sunrise. In Australian Aboriginal astronomy, Lyra is known by the Boorong people in Victoria as the Malleefowl constellation. Also known as Sirius, this star is the brightest in the entire night sky! Constellations; Object's daily path; Compass directions; . It was discovered by Charles Messier on January 19, 1779. It will continue moving west until 19:30 when it will begin to be only partially visible on the south west horizon. Orpheus was the son of the Thracian King Oeagrus and the muse Calliope. They normally have an absolute magnitude of 0.75, meaning they are only 40 to 50 times more luminous than the Sun, and are usually old, metal-poor stars. Mu Lyrae is a white subgiant star belonging to the spectral class A3IVn. The five stars above are the most well-known . However as with the harp there is not a standard shape for the instrument. This object is easiest to spot with good binoculars or a telescope. Finally the jealous women grouped together and turned against Orpheus and stoned him to death. Lyra, a small constellation located between Cygnus, Hercules and Draco, is easily recognized for parallelogram. Lyra will be visible overhead in April. This cluster is about 33,000 light-years from Earth and has a diameter of about 95 light-years. The star is similar to the Sun. The constellation contains six formally named stars. Try finding a good, unobstructed view of the horizon. Lyra. Hevelius,Firmamentum, 1690 History of the constellation. Vega is the brightest star, while the other 2 stars are within the band of the milky way. 2 /5. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. High relative velocities cause ram pressures at the surface of contact between the interacting interstellar clouds. Alpha Canis Majoris. After he died, his lyre was placed in the sky as a tribute to his music and the loss of his wife. The constellation name Lyra is pronounced /lar/. Lyra is visible in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-find-the-lyra-constellation-4172784. Free constellation for kids printables. This doughnut has a rugby-ball-shaped region of lower-density material slotted into in its central gap, stretching towards and away from us. It will continue moving west until sunrise when it will be 50 degrees above the north west horizon. There are some 380 suns in NGC 6791, which is one of the oldest ( at around 8 billion years), most metal-rich and massive open clusters in the Milky Way. RR Lyrae variables are pulsating horizontal branch stars belonging to the spectral class A (and much less frequently F), with about half the Suns mass. Lyra is a small star constellation viewable in the Summer months in the Northern Hemisphere. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) adopted the three-letter abbreviation Lyr for the constellation in 1922. In the Northern hemisphere the constellation can be seen from April to December. It represents the lyre, a musical instrument with strings used in antiquity and later times. It is believed to be about 455 million years old, which is about a half of its life expectancy. The Western solar zodiac system gives a vague idea of the current month, as you can not see the constellation that the sun is apparently in front of. It was made by Hermes from a tortoise shell and is said to be the first lyre ever produced. It was discovered by the French astronomer Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix in January 1779, and Charles Messier discovered it independently later the same month, and included it in his catalogue as the 57th object. Pronunciation of Lyra with 7 audio pronunciations. The smaller galaxy is believed to have lost most of its interstellar medium to the larger one in the collision. It is located 25.04 light years away from Earth and was the northern pole star around the year 12,000 BC and will be again around the year 13,727. Lyra is a small constellation, 52nd in size, occupying an area of 286 square degrees. The hot blue stars in this image are evidence of this star formation. Lyra constellation is a small constellation that lies in the northern sky. Orpheus took his lyre to support Jason and the Argonauts to quell the sirens who would otherwise lead them astray with their beauty and song. If you use any of the content on this page in your own work, please use the code below to cite this page as the source of the content. The Earth is tilted at an angle of 23.44, which is why the two differ and why we have seasons. For some amateur stargazers it is helpful to envisage the constellation as a diamond ring. Given the constellation, it could possibly be an easter egg of sorts from the first HP film, when Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy explore the forest and stumble across You-Know-Who. It belongs to the constellation Canis Major and resembles a dog. It was first discovered by the German astronomer Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke in 1853. Have a blast with these constellation activities and learn the constellations you can see in the sky! The constellations boundaries, as set by Belgian astronomer Eugne Delporte in 1930, are defined by a 17-sided polygon. Lyra is the 52nd largest constellation out of the 88 modern constellations and occupies an area of 286 square degrees. Image taken at Sydney Observatory on 29 September 2004 using a telescope in New Mexico. This image was created by the Hubble Heritage Team using NASA Hubble Space Telescope archive data taken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 in March 1996. It is located 238 light years away from the Solar System and has an apparent magnitude of 4.323. It is the brightest star in the RR Lyrae variables class and has an apparent magnitude ranging from 7.06 to 8.12. If you wish to see the constellation, you would need to wait until June to be able to see . The nearest main star (Vega) in the constellation is at a distance of 25.05 light-years, and the furthest main star is Sheliak, at a distance of 962.13 light-years. ThoughtCo. Vega is the fourth brightest star in the whole sky, and defines the zero point of the magnitude system. When: 16 to 25 April. For northern observers who can see these constellations, spring is the best time of year to observe them. If you plan to look out for the Lyrids, you would need to stay up until 10 p.m. or later in April as that is when the constellation is visible. Unlike the southern hemisphere, it will not reach high in the sky. January: visible on the eastern horizon before sunrise from 03:30. While the companion is an orange giant of the spectral type K2III, manning it is cooler than the Sun but brighter and larger. The dimmest star you can see in Lyra with the naked eye is HD 175635. It was first discovered by Charles Messier on January 19, 1779 and is around 32,900 light years away from the Solar System. The best place to see the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, is on the Subaru logo. Gliese 747AB is a nearby star system composed of two red dwarf stars of the spectral types M3 and M5. Comments may be merged or altered slightly, such as if it contains an email or website address. Jupiter and Venus, the brightest planets in the sky, have inched closer together in the sky for the last . The Hipparcos satellite scanned and detailed nine hundred and thirty-eight stars. Vega is an egg/oval-shaped star like Regulus but unlike Regulus, no companion stars are orbiting it. Orpheus took their advice. Lyra represents the lyre (a harp like instrument popular in ancient Greece) of Orpheus. The most recent one, in 1996, was a very long and bright one, indicating that the star is a variable of the SU Ursae Majoris type, one that has super-outbursts in addition to normal outbursts. With an apparent magnitude of 0.03, it is also the fifth brightest star in the night sky, after Sirius in Canis Major, Canopus in Carina, Arcturus in Botes, and Alpha Centauri A in Centaurus constellation. A constellation is a pattern of stars in a recognisable shape that is supposed to resemble an object, animal or person. The star belongs to the spectral class A0V, which makes it a white dwarf. There is also a fifth component, which was discovered in 1985. Vega's constellation, Lyra, was supposed to represent Apollo's harp. It's right next door. It is a yellow dwarf with the stellar classification of G8V and has an apparent magnitude of 6.36. The system is located around 960 light years distant from Earth. It is a white dwarf and belongs to the spectral class A0V. Pleiades. . The primary component in the system is of an unknown type and has a magnitude of 18, but during outbursts the magnitude reaches 13.6. Pronunciation: Because Vega is very bright and the constellation is small it is the closest visible star to Vega in the direction of Deneb for many viewers. It also has a thick equatorial ring. Making it is visible throughout the night. Not entirely sure. This is the table found during the quest with Amit. It is significantly brighter and larger, yet also cooler than the Sun. Lyra constellation was often depicted as a vulture or an eagle carrying Orpheus lyre in its wings or beak, and called Aquila Cadens or Vultur Cadens, which means the falling eagle or falling vulture.. Draco) or exist in the real world (e.g. It is the 272nd brightest star with an apparent magnitude of +3.45. Late evening viewers (after 23:30) can find the constellation from March in the eastern sky until October in the western sky. The name Lyra comes from the Greek myth of Orpheus, a musician. Olympus. The most famous story involving Orpheus is that of the passing of his wife Eurydice. Horologium Constellation . The constellations on the Ecliptic are the Zodiac constellations plus Ophiuchus. Lyra, (Latin: "Lyre") constellation in the northern sky at about 18 hours right ascension and 40 north in declination. Enter the coordinates in the Coordinates or Source input box. If you lay down on the grass and look straight up in the air, keep an eye out for Vega, a bright star. In binoculars, the system appears as two stars, each of which can be resolved into a binary when observed through a telescope. Constellations from the southern hemisphere, unable to be seen from the Mediterranean, represent the majority of additions to the list. Vega is easy to find in the night sky because it is bright and also because it is part of a familiar summer asterism, the Summer Triangle, which it forms with the stars Altair in the constellation Aquila and Deneb in Cygnus.