Vega rising

observation

She witnessed a bright light rising up through the trees and then resting in place in the sky. She pointed out the light and suggested we take a picture. I recognized the star Vega in the constellation Lyra, but she insisted it moved into place like a hellicopter. I believe her.

Phecda (stars.astro.illinois.edu) PHECDA (Gamma Ursae Majoris). Few figures in the sky move us more than the Big Dipper, its seven bright stars laid out in a long bent row that the British call the Plough. All but one of its stars are second magnitude, though Phecda, the third one in from the end of the bowl, and southernmost of the bowl stars, is just on the edge of third (2.44).

Vega (Wikipedia) Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only 25 light-years (7.7 parsecs) from the Sun, and one of the most luminous stars in the Sun’s neighborhood. It is the fifth-brightest star in the night sky, and the second-brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere, after Arcturus.