Lyra

The Harp

A small summer constellation dominated by brilliant blue-white Vega, with a little parallelogram of stars hanging below it.

Chart drawn as the sky looks when you face the constellation: north is up and east is to the left. Dot size shows brightness, and color hints at temperature. The connecting lines are one common stick figure; other traditions draw them differently.

Best season: Summer
Best months: June through October, high overhead on summer evenings
Visibility: Visible from everywhere in the United States
Abbreviation: Lyr

How to find it

Look high overhead on a summer evening for a brilliant blue-white star: that is Vega.
Below Vega, a small parallelogram of four stars forms the harp.

Brightest stars

Vega (blue-white, one of the brightest stars in the sky)
Sheliak
Sulafat

What to look for

The color of Vega, a clean blue-white.
The Double Double (Epsilon Lyrae), which binoculars show as two stars, each of which splits again in a telescope.

Binocular and telescope targets

Ring Nebula (M57): a small glowing ring, a classic telescope target
Double Double (Epsilon Lyrae): a double of doubles, split in a small telescope
M56: a modest globular cluster nearby

Using it to find other things

Vega is one corner of the Summer Triangle, along with Deneb and Altair.

About this constellation

Lyra is small, but Vega's brightness makes it unmistakable. It is the fifth-brightest star in the night sky.

Around April 22, the Lyrid meteor shower appears to radiate from near Vega. Lyra also contains the Ring Nebula, a shell of gas blown off by a dying star, and a favorite for first-time telescope owners.

Related guides

Visibility depends on your latitude, the date, and the time of night. The months above assume a typical evening from the contiguous United States, so use a planetarium app to confirm what is up tonight. Never look at the Sun through binoculars or a telescope without a proper solar filter.

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