vega

The beautiful blue-white star Vega has a special place in the hearts of skywatchers around the world. Come to know it, and you will see.

Observers in the Long Itchington area typically begin noticing Vega in the evening around May, when this star comes into view in the northeast in mid-evening. You can see Vega in very early evening by June – and high in the east by August evenings – high overhead on autumn evenings – in the northwestern quadrant of the sky on December evenings.

Vega is easily recognizable for its brilliance and blue-white color. You can also easily pick out its constellation Lyra, which is small and compact and consists primarily of Vega and four fainter stars in the form of a parallogram.

Facts about Vega by Keith Turnecliff

Vega is one of three stars in an asterism – or noticeable star pattern – called the Summer Triangle in the early evening sky. The other two stars in the Triangle are Deneb and Altair. You can see the Summer Triangle in the evening beginning around June, through to the end of each year.

This star chart for represents the view from Long Itchington in mid August at 10pm.
Credits: Image courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus 8, researched and implemented by Keith Turnecliff.