Abbreviation: Lyr
Genitive: Lyrae
Origin: [antiquity]
In Greek mythology, this constellation is associated with the lyre or harp of Orpheus, legendary musician, poet and prophet.
The first magnitude star Vega forms an asterism, the 'Summer Triangle', with two other first magnitude stars, Altair and Deneb.
| Designation | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Lyrids | Confusingly, the radiant for the Lyrid meteor shower lies just inside the border of the neighbouring constellation Hercules. | |
| α Lyr | Vega | This first magnitude star forms one part of the asterism known as the 'Summer Triangle'. Because of axial precession, it also takes a turn as the north polar star. It held that position about 12000 years ago and will resume that job in another 14000 years. It sometimes appears as Wega in older star atlases and catalogues. |
| β Lyr | Sheliak | This is a double star when viewed through a small telescope. |
| γ Lyr | Sulafat | |
| η Lyr | Aladfar | |
| RR Lyr | Although this star has no common name, it is a famous variable star and the prototype of an entire class of objects called RR Lyrae stars. RR Lyrae stars are found mostly in globular clusters. | |
| HAT-P-5 | Chasoň | This twelfth-magnitude star is known to have at least one exoplanet. |
| HD 173416 | Xihe | This star is known to have at least one exoplanet. |
| M56 | The globular cluster is a challenging binocular object but a medium-size telescope will resolve it. | |
| M57 | Ring Nebula | A small telescope will show a small, fuzzy ellipse but larger apetures should reveal the ring-like structure. |
Copyright © 1995–2020 by David Harper and L.M. Stockman