Lyra
Small constellation, dazzling star
Best on June–August evenings · northern sky.
Lyra is a small, compact constellation, but it's anchored by one of the brightest stars in the entire night sky: brilliant blue-white Vega. A neat little parallelogram of fainter stars hangs just below Vega, tracing the body of the mythical lyre.
How to find it
High overhead on summer evenings from the northern hemisphere. Just pick out the brightest star in that part of the sky — that's Vega — and you've found Lyra; the small parallelogram dangling beneath it completes the shape. Vega is also the top corner of the broad Summer Triangle.
Brightest stars
Vega utterly dominates at magnitude 0.03 — among the five brightest stars visible from northern latitudes. The next stars down, Sulafat (3.24) and Sheliak (3.45), form the near corners of the little parallelogram below it.
Worth seeing
Vega alone rewards the look — a steely blue-white beacon so bright it's often the first star to appear — and it anchors one corner of the Summer Triangle alongside Deneb and Altair, the easiest large pattern of the summer sky.
Frequently asked
When is Lyra visible?
Summer evenings, roughly June through August in the northern hemisphere, when Vega climbs nearly overhead.
What is the brightest star in Lyra?
Vega, at magnitude 0.03 — one of the brightest stars in the whole night sky, and the fastest way to locate the constellation.
Is Lyra in the northern or southern hemisphere?
It sits in the northern sky and is best seen from the northern hemisphere, though it's still reachable from northern-tropical latitudes.
Nearby constellations
Cygnus · Hercules · Draco · Delphinus · Aquila · Cepheus · Ursa Minor · Serpens