Vega

stars · night sky · constellation Lyra · nearby stars

Super bright neighbor. Vega is only 25 light-years away from our Sun, making it one of the closest really bright stars we can see. Even though it's far away in space, it's so luminous that it outshines many stars that are actually closer to us.

Fifth brightest star. When you look up at the night sky, Vega is the fifth-brightest star you'll see from anywhere on Earth. It's only beaten by a few other stars, and in the northern half of the sky, only Arcturus shines brighter.

Part of Lyra. Vega is the main star in the constellation Lyra, which looks like a small harp or lyre in the sky. Its scientific name is Alpha Lyrae because it's marked as the brightest star in that constellation.

Incredibly luminous. Vega is intrinsically much brighter than our Sun, meaning if you could measure its true power output, it would outshine our Sun many times over. It's one of the most luminous stars living in our part of the galaxy.