Vega

About

Vega, known as Alpha Lyrae, is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra and the fifth brightest in the night sky. It is a blue-white main-sequence star, located about 25 light-years from Earth. Vega has a mass of approximately 2.1 times that of the Sun and is about 2.5 times larger. Its surface temperature is around 9,602 K, making it significantly hotter than the Sun. Vega is a rapid rotator, completing a rotation in about 16.5 hours, which causes it to bulge at the equator due to centrifugal forces. Vega is notable for its low metallicity and is classified as a weak Lambda Boötis star. It is surrounded by a circumstellar disk of dust, similar to the Kuiper Belt in our Solar System. Vega's age is estimated to be about 455 million years, and it is nearing the midpoint of its main-sequence lifetime. Eventually, it will evolve into a red giant and then a white dwarf. Vega's brightness and stability have made it a standard reference point in astronomy for calibrating photometric scales. It is also a popular sight in the night sky, particularly visible in the Summer Triangle asterism.