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Vega is the brightest
star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...
in the
northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...
constellation of
Lyra Lyra (; Latin for lyre, from Greek ''λύρα'') is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and is one of the modern 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. 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 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 The night sky is the nighttime appearance of celestial objects like stars, planets, and the Moon, which are visible in a clear sky between sunset and sunrise, when the Sun is below the horizon. Natural light sources in a night sky in ...
, and the second-brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere, after Arcturus. Vega has been extensively studied by astronomers, leading it to be termed "arguably the next most important star in the sky after the Sun". Vega was the
northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...
pole star around 12,000 BCE and will be so again around the year 13,727, when its declination will be . Vega was the first star other than the Sun to have its image and spectrum photographed. It was one of the first stars whose distance was estimated through parallax measurements. Vega has functioned as the baseline for calibrating the photometric brightness scale and was one of the stars used to define the zero point for the UBV photometric system. Vega is only about a tenth of the age of the Sun, but since it is 2.1 times as massive, its expected lifetime is also one tenth of that of the Sun; both stars are at present approaching the midpoint of their life expectancies. Compared with the Sun, Vega has a lower abundance of elements heavier than helium. Vega is also a variable star that varies slightly in brightness. It is rotating rapidly with a velocity of at the equator. This causes the equator to bulge outward due to
centrifugal Centrifugal (a key concept in rotating systems) may refer to: *Centrifugal casting (industrial), Centrifugal casting (silversmithing), and Spin casting (centrifugal rubber mold casting), forms of centrifigual casting *Centrifugal clutch *Centrifu ...
effects, and, as a result, there is a variation of temperature across the star's photosphere that reaches a maximum at the poles. From Earth, Vega is observed from the direction of one of these poles. Based on an observed excess emission of
infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of Light, visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from ...
radiation, Vega appears to have a
circumstellar disk A circumstellar disc (or circumstellar disk) is a torus, pancake or ring-shaped accretion disk of matter composed of gas, dust, planetesimals, asteroids, or collision fragments in orbit around a star. Around the youngest stars, they are th ...
of
dust Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in ...
. This dust is likely to be the result of collisions between objects in an orbiting debris disk, which is analogous to the Kuiper belt in the
Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...
. Stars that display an infrared excess due to dust emission are termed Vega-like stars. In 2021, a candidate ultra-hot Neptune on a 2.43-day orbit around Vega was discovered with the radial velocity method, additionally, another possible Saturn-mass signal with a period of about 200 days.


Nomenclature

'' α Lyrae'' ( Latinised to ''Alpha Lyrae'') is the star's Bayer designation. The traditional name ''Vega'' (earlier ''Wega'') comes from a loose transliteration of the
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
word ' (
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
: واقع) meaning "falling" or "landing", via the phrase ' (
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
: النّسر الْواقع), "the falling eagle". In 2016, the
International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...
(IAU) organized a
Working Group on Star Names The International Astronomical Union (IAU) established a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) in May 2016 to catalog and standardize proper names for stars for the international astronomical community. It operates under Division C – Education ...
(WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included ''Vega'' for this star. It is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names.


Observation

Vega can often be seen near the zenith in the mid-northern
latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north ...
s during the evening in the Northern Hemisphere summer. From mid-southern latitudes, it can be seen low above the northern horizon during the Southern Hemisphere winter. With a declination of +38.78°, Vega can only be viewed at latitudes north of 51° S. Therefore, it does not rise at all anywhere in
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...
or in the southernmost part of South America, including Punta Arenas,
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
(53° S). At latitudes to the north of 51° N, Vega remains continuously above the horizon as a
circumpolar star A circumpolar star is a star that, as viewed from a given latitude on Earth, never sets below the horizon due to its apparent proximity to one of the celestial poles. Circumpolar stars are therefore visible from said location toward the nearest p ...
. Around July 1, Vega reaches midnight culmination when it crosses the meridian at that time. Each night the positions of the stars appear to change as the Earth rotates. However, when a star is located along the Earth's axis of rotation, it will remain in the same position and thus is called a pole star. The direction of the Earth's axis of rotation gradually changes over time in a process known as the
precession of the equinoxes In astronomy, axial precession is a gravity-induced, slow, and continuous change in the orientation of an astronomical body's rotational axis. In the absence of precession, the astronomical body's orbit would show axial parallelism. In partic ...
. A complete precession cycle requires 25,770 years, during which time the pole of the Earth's rotation follows a circular path across the celestial sphere that passes near several prominent stars. At present the pole star is Polaris, but around 12,000 BCE the pole was pointed only five degrees away from Vega. Through precession, the pole will again pass near Vega around 14,000 CE. Vega is the brightest of the successive northern pole stars. In 210,000 years, Vega will become the brightest star in the night sky, – based on computations from HIPPARCOS data. (The calculations exclude stars whose distance or proper motion is uncertain.) tp://tlgleonid.asuscomm.com/HITACHI/BOOK_ASTRO/S&T/SkyandTelescope_1998%20-%20astronomy/04/199804059063.pdf PDF/ref> and will peak in brightness in 290,000 years with an apparent magnitude of –0.81. This star lies at a
vertex Vertex, vertices or vertexes may refer to: Science and technology Mathematics and computer science *Vertex (geometry), a point where two or more curves, lines, or edges meet *Vertex (computer graphics), a data structure that describes the position ...
of a widely spaced asterism called the Summer Triangle, which consists of Vega plus the two first-magnitude stars
Altair Altair is the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila and the twelfth-brightest star in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Aquilae, which is Latinised from α Aquilae and abbreviated Alpha Aql o ...
, in Aquila, and
Deneb Deneb () is a first-magnitude star in the constellation of Cygnus, the swan. Deneb is one of the vertices of the asterism known as the Summer Triangle and the "head" of the Northern Cross. It is the brightest star in Cygnus and the ...
in Cygnus. This formation is the approximate shape of a right triangle, with Vega located at its right angle. The Summer Triangle is recognizable in the northern skies for there are few other bright stars in its vicinity.


Observational history

Astrophotography, the
photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is emplo ...
of celestial objects, began in 1840 when John William Draper took an image of the Moon using the daguerreotype process. On 17 July 1850, Vega became the first star (other than the Sun) to be photographed, when it was imaged by William Bond and
John Adams Whipple John Adams Whipple (September 10, 1822 – April 10, 1891) was an American inventor and early photographer. He was the first in the United States to manufacture the chemicals used for daguerreotypes. He pioneered astronomical and night photo ...
at the Harvard College Observatory, also with a daguerreotype. In August 1872, Henry Draper took a photograph of Vega's spectrum, the first photograph of a star's spectrum showing absorption lines. Similar lines had already been identified in the spectrum of the Sun. In 1879, William Huggins used photographs of the spectra of Vega and similar stars to identify a set of twelve "very strong lines" that were common to this stellar category. These were later identified as lines from the Hydrogen Balmer series. Since 1943, the spectrum of this star has served as one of the stable anchor points by which other stars are classified. The distance to Vega can be determined by measuring its parallax shift against the background stars as the
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...
orbits the Sun. The first person to publish a star's parallax was Friedrich G. W. von Struve, when he announced a value of 0.125 arcsecond () for Vega. Friedrich Bessel was skeptical about Struve's data, and, when Bessel published a parallax of 0.314″ for the star system 61 Cygni, Struve revised his value for Vega's parallax to nearly double the original estimate. This change cast further doubt on Struve's data. Thus most astronomers at the time, including Struve, credited Bessel with the first published parallax result. However, Struve's initial result was actually close to the currently accepted value of 0.129″, as determined by the '' Hipparcos'' astrometry satellite. The brightness of a star, as seen from Earth, is measured with a standardized, logarithmic scale. This
apparent magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's ...
is a numerical value that decreases in value with increasing brightness of the star. The faintest stars visible to the unaided eye are sixth magnitude, while the brightest in the night sky, Sirius, is of magnitude −1.46. To standardize the magnitude scale, astronomers chose Vega to represent magnitude zero at all wavelengths. Thus, for many years, Vega was used as a baseline for the calibration of absolute photometric brightness scales. However, this is no longer the case, as the apparent magnitude zero point is now commonly defined in terms of a particular numerically specified flux. This approach is more convenient for astronomers, since Vega is not always available for calibration and varies in brightness. The UBV photometric system measures the magnitude of stars through
ultraviolet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30  PHz) to 400 nm (750  THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation ...
, blue and yellow filters, producing ''U'', ''B'' and ''V'' values, respectively. Vega is one of six A0V stars that were used to set the initial mean values for this photometric system when it was introduced in the 1950s. The mean magnitudes for these six stars were defined as: = = 0. In effect, the magnitude scale has been calibrated so that the magnitude of these stars is the same in the yellow, blue and ultraviolet parts of the
electromagnetic spectrum The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of frequencies (the spectrum) of electromagnetic radiation and their respective wavelengths and photon energies. The electromagnetic spectrum covers electromagnetic waves with frequencies ranging fro ...
. Thus, Vega has a relatively flat electromagnetic spectrum in the visual region—wavelength range 350–850 nanometers, most of which can be seen with the human eye—so the flux densities are roughly equal; 2,000–. However, the flux density of Vega drops rapidly in the
infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of Light, visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from ...
, and is near at . Photometric measurements of Vega during the 1930s appeared to show that the star had a low-magnitude variability on the order of ±0.03 magnitude (around ±2.8% luminosity). This range of variability was near the limits of observational capability for that time, and so the subject of Vega's variability has been controversial. The magnitude of Vega was measured again in 1981 at the David Dunlap Observatory and showed some slight variability. Thus it was suggested that Vega showed occasional low-amplitude pulsations associated with a Delta Scuti variable. This is a category of stars that oscillate in a coherent manner, resulting in periodic pulsations in the star's luminosity. Although Vega fits the physical profile for this type of variable, other observers have found no such variation. Thus the variability was thought to possibly be the result of systematic errors in measurement. However, a 2007 article surveyed these and other results, and concluded that "A conservative analysis of the foregoing results suggests that Vega is quite likely variable in the 1–2% range, with possible occasional excursions to as much as 4% from the mean". Also, a 2011 article affirms that "The long-term (year-to-year) variability of Vega was confirmed". Vega became the first solitary main-sequence star beyond the Sun known to be an X-ray emitter when in 1979 it was observed from an imaging X-ray telescope launched on an Aerobee 350 from the White Sands Missile Range. In 1983, Vega became the first star found to have a disk of dust. The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) discovered an excess of infrared radiation coming from the star, and this was attributed to energy emitted by the orbiting dust as it was heated by the star.


Physical characteristics

Vega's spectral class is A0V, making it a blue-tinged white main-sequence star that is fusing
hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-to ...
to
helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic ta ...
in its core. Since more massive stars use their fusion fuel more quickly than smaller ones, Vega's main-sequence lifetime is roughly one billion years, a tenth of the Sun's. The current age of this star is about 455 million years, or up to about half its expected total main-sequence lifespan. After leaving the main sequence, Vega will become a class-M red giant and shed much of its mass, finally becoming a white dwarf. At present, Vega has more than twice the mass of the Sun and its bolometric luminosity is about 40 times the Sun's. Because it is rotating rapidly, approximately once every 12.5 hours, and seen nearly pole-on, its apparent luminosity, calculated assuming it was the same brightness all over, is about 57 times the Sun's. If Vega is variable, then it may be a Delta Scuti type with a period of about 0.107 day. Most of the energy produced at Vega's core is generated by the carbon–nitrogen–oxygen cycle ( CNO cycle), a nuclear fusion process that combines protons to form helium nuclei through intermediary nuclei of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. This process becomes dominant at a temperature of about 17 million K, which is slightly higher than the core temperature of the Sun, but is less efficient than the Sun's proton–proton chain fusion reaction. The CNO cycle is highly temperature sensitive, which results in a convection zone about the core that evenly distributes the 'ash' from the fusion reaction within the core region. The overlying atmosphere is in
radiative equilibrium Radiative equilibrium is the condition where the total thermal radiation leaving an object is equal to the total thermal radiation entering it. It is one of the several requirements for thermodynamic equilibrium, but it can occur in the absence of ...
. This is in contrast to the Sun, which has a radiation zone centered on the core with an overlying convection zone. The energy flux from Vega has been precisely measured against standard light sources. At , the flux density is with an error margin of 2%. The visual spectrum of Vega is dominated by absorption lines of hydrogen; specifically by the hydrogen Balmer series with the
electron The electron ( or ) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary electric charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family, and are generally thought to be elementary particles because they have n ...
at the n=2 principal quantum number. The lines of other elements are relatively weak, with the strongest being ionized
magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ...
,
iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...
and chromium. The
X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10  nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...
emission from Vega is very low, demonstrating that the corona for this star must be very weak or non-existent. However, as the pole of Vega is facing Earth and a polar coronal hole may be present, confirmation of a corona as the likely source of the X-rays detected from Vega (or the region very close to Vega) may be difficult as most of any coronal X-rays would not be emitted along the line of sight. Using spectropolarimetry, a magnetic field has been detected on the surface of Vega by a team of astronomers at the Observatoire du Pic du Midi. This is the first such detection of a magnetic field on a spectral class A star that is not an Ap chemically peculiar star. The average line of sight component of this field has a strength of . This is comparable to the mean magnetic field on the Sun. Magnetic fields of roughly 30 G have been reported for Vega, compared to about 1 G for the Sun. In 2015, bright starspots were detected on the star's surface—the first such detection for a normal A-type star, and these features show evidence of rotational modulation with a period of 0.68 day.


Rotation

Vega has a rotation period of 12.5 hours, much faster than the Sun's rotational period but similar to, and slightly slower than, those of
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...
and Saturn. Because of that, Vega is significantly oblate like those two planets. When the radius of Vega was measured to high accuracy with an interferometer, it resulted in an unexpectedly large estimated value of times the
radius of the Sun Solar radius is a unit of distance used to express the size of stars in astronomy relative to the Sun. The solar radius is usually defined as the radius to the layer in the Sun's photosphere where the optical depth equals 2/3: :1\,R_ = 6.957\tim ...
. This is 60% larger than the radius of the star Sirius, while stellar models indicated it should only be about 12% larger. However, this discrepancy can be explained if Vega is a rapidly rotating star that is being viewed from the direction of its pole of rotation. Observations by the CHARA array in 2005–06 confirmed this deduction. The pole of Vega—its axis of rotation—is inclined no more than five degrees from the line-of-sight to the Earth. At the high end of estimates for the rotation velocity for Vega is along the equator, much higher than the observed (i.e.
projected Projected is an American rock supergroup consisting of Sevendust members John Connolly and Vinnie Hornsby, Alter Bridge and Creed drummer Scott Phillips, and former Submersed and current Tremonti guitarist Eric Friedman. The band released the ...
) rotational velocity because Vega is seen almost pole-on. This is 88% of the speed that would cause the star to start breaking up from
centrifugal Centrifugal (a key concept in rotating systems) may refer to: *Centrifugal casting (industrial), Centrifugal casting (silversmithing), and Spin casting (centrifugal rubber mold casting), forms of centrifigual casting *Centrifugal clutch *Centrifu ...
effects. This rapid rotation of Vega produces a pronounced equatorial bulge, so the radius of the equator is 19% larger than the polar radius. (The estimated polar radius of this star is solar radii, while the equatorial radius is solar radii.) From the Earth, this bulge is being viewed from the direction of its pole, producing the overly large radius estimate. The local surface gravity at the poles is greater than at the equator, which produces a variation in effective temperature over the star: the polar temperature is near , while the equatorial temperature is about . This large temperature difference between the poles and the equator produces a strong
gravity darkening Gravity darkening, also referred to as gravity brightening, is an astronomical phenomenon where the poles of a star are brighter than the equator, due to rapid rotation and oblate shape. When a star is oblate, it has a larger radius at its equa ...
effect. As viewed from the poles, this results in a darker (lower-intensity) limb than would normally be expected for a spherically symmetric star. The temperature gradient may also mean that Vega has a convection zone around the equator, while the remainder of the atmosphere is likely to be in almost pure
radiative equilibrium Radiative equilibrium is the condition where the total thermal radiation leaving an object is equal to the total thermal radiation entering it. It is one of the several requirements for thermodynamic equilibrium, but it can occur in the absence of ...
. By the
Von Zeipel theorem In astrophysics, the von Zeipel theorem states that the radiative flux F in a uniformly rotating star is proportional to the local effective gravity g_\text. The theorem is named after Swedish astronomer Edvard Hugo von Zeipel. The theorem is: ...
, the local luminosity is higher at the poles. As a result, if Vega were viewed along the plane of its equator instead of almost pole-on, then its overall brightness would be lower. As Vega had long been used as a standard star for calibrating telescopes, the discovery that it is rapidly rotating may challenge some of the underlying assumptions that were based on it being spherically symmetric. With the viewing angle and rotation rate of Vega now better known, this will allow improved instrument calibrations.


Element abundance

In astronomy, those elements with higher
atomic number The atomic number or nuclear charge number (symbol ''Z'') of a chemical element is the charge number of an atomic nucleus. For ordinary nuclei, this is equal to the proton number (''n''p) or the number of protons found in the nucleus of ever ...
s than helium are termed "metals". The metallicity of Vega's photosphere is only about 32% of the abundance of heavy elements in the Sun's atmosphere. (Compare this, for example, to a threefold metallicity abundance in the similar star Sirius as compared to the Sun.) For comparison, the Sun has an abundance of elements heavier than helium of about ZSol = . Thus, in terms of abundances, only about 0.54% of Vega consists of elements heavier than helium.
Nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...
is slightly ''more'' abundant,
oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements ...
is only marginally less abundant and sulfur abundance is about 50% of solar. On the other hand, Vega has only 10% to 30% of the solar abundance for most other major elements with barium and
scandium Scandium is a chemical element with the symbol Sc and atomic number 21. It is a silvery-white metallic d-block element. Historically, it has been classified as a rare-earth element, together with yttrium and the Lanthanides. It was discovered in ...
below 10%. The unusually low metallicity of Vega makes it a weak Lambda Boötis star. However, the reason for the existence of such chemically peculiar, spectral class A0–F0 stars remains unclear. One possibility is that the chemical peculiarity may be the result of
diffusion Diffusion is the net movement of anything (for example, atoms, ions, molecules, energy) generally from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Diffusion is driven by a gradient in Gibbs free energy or chemical ...
or mass loss, although stellar models show that this would normally only occur near the end of a star's hydrogen-burning lifespan. Another possibility is that the star formed from an interstellar medium of gas and dust that was unusually metal-poor. The observed helium to hydrogen ratio in Vega is , which is about 40% lower than the Sun. This may be caused by the disappearance of a helium convection zone near the surface. Energy transfer is instead performed by the radiative process, which may be causing an abundance anomaly through diffusion.


Kinematics

The radial velocity of Vega is the component of this star's motion along the line-of-sight to the Earth. Movement away from the Earth will cause the light from Vega to shift to a lower
frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...
(toward the red), or to a higher frequency (toward the blue) if the motion is toward the Earth. Thus the velocity can be measured from the amount of shift of the star's spectrum. Precise measurements of this
blueshift In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and simultaneous increase i ...
give a value of . The minus sign indicates a relative motion toward the Earth. Motion transverse to the line of sight causes the position of Vega to shift with respect to the more distant background stars. Careful measurement of the star's position allows this angular movement, known as proper motion, to be calculated. Vega's proper motion is (mas) per year in right ascension—the celestial equivalent of
longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek let ...
—and in declination, which is equivalent to a change in
latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north ...
. The net proper motion of Vega is , which results in angular movement of a degree every . In the
galactic coordinate system The galactic coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system in spherical coordinates, with the Sun as its center, the primary direction aligned with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy, and the fundamental plane parallel to an a ...
, the space velocity components of Vega are (U, V, W) = , for a net space velocity of . The radial component of this velocity—in the direction of the Sun—is , while the transverse velocity is . Although Vega is at present only the fifth-brightest star in the night sky, the star is slowly brightening as proper motion causes it to approach the Sun. Vega will make its closest approach in an estimated 264,000 years at a perihelion distance of . Based on this star's kinematic properties, it appears to belong to a stellar association called the Castor Moving Group. However, Vega may be much older than this group, so the membership remains uncertain. This group contains about 16 stars, including Alpha Librae, Alpha Cephei, Castor, Fomalhaut and Vega. All members of the group are moving in nearly the same direction with similar space velocities. Membership in a moving group implies a common origin for these stars in an open cluster that has since become gravitationally unbound. The estimated age of this moving group is , and they have an average space velocity of .


Possible planetary system


Infrared excess

One of the early results from the
Infrared Astronomy Satellite The Infrared Astronomical Satellite ( Dutch: ''Infrarood Astronomische Satelliet'') (IRAS) was the first space telescope to perform a survey of the entire night sky at infrared wavelengths. Launched on 25 January 1983, its mission lasted ten ...
(IRAS) was the discovery of excess infrared flux coming from Vega, beyond what would be expected from the star alone. This excess was measured at
wavelength In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, tr ...
s of 25, 60 and , and came from within an angular radius of () centered on the star. At the measured distance of Vega, this corresponded to an actual radius of (AU), where an AU is the average radius of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. It was proposed that this radiation came from a field of orbiting particles with a dimension on the order of a millimetre, as anything smaller would eventually be removed from the system by radiation pressure or drawn into the star by means of Poynting–Robertson drag. The latter is the result of radiation pressure creating an effective force that opposes the orbital motion of a dust particle, causing it to spiral inward. This effect is most pronounced for tiny particles that are closer to the star. Subsequent measurements of Vega at showed a lower than expected flux for the hypothesized particles, suggesting that they must instead be on the order of or less. To maintain this amount of dust in orbit around Vega, a continual source of replenishment would be required. A proposed mechanism for maintaining the dust was a disk of coalesced bodies that were in the process of collapsing to form a planet. Models fitted to the dust distribution around Vega indicate that it is a 120-astronomical-unit-radius circular disk viewed from nearly pole-on. In addition, there is a hole in the center of the disk with a radius of no less than . Following the discovery of an infrared excess around Vega, other stars have been found that display a similar anomaly that is attributable to dust emission. As of 2002, about 400 of these stars have been found, and they have come to be termed "Vega-like" or "Vega-excess" stars. It is believed that these may provide clues to the origin of the
Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...
.


Debris disks

By 2005, the Spitzer Space Telescope had produced high-resolution infrared images of the dust around Vega. It was shown to extend out to 43″ () at a wavelength of , 70″ () at and () at . These much wider disks were found to be circular and free of clumps, with dust particles ranging from 1– in size. The estimated total mass of this dust is 3 times the
mass of the Earth An Earth mass (denoted as M_\mathrm or M_\oplus, where ⊕ is the standard astronomical symbol for Earth), is a unit of mass equal to the mass of the planet Earth. The current best estimate for the mass of Earth is , with a relative uncertainty ...
(around 7.5 times more massive than the asteroid belt). Production of the dust would require collisions between asteroids in a population corresponding to the Kuiper Belt around the Sun. Thus the dust is more likely created by a debris disk around Vega, rather than from a protoplanetary disk as was earlier thought. The inner boundary of the debris disk was estimated at , or 70–. The disk of dust is produced as radiation pressure from Vega pushes debris from collisions of larger objects outward. However, continuous production of the amount of dust observed over the course of Vega's lifetime would require an enormous starting mass—estimated as hundreds of times the mass of Jupiter. Hence it is more likely to have been produced as the result of a relatively recent breakup of a moderate-sized (or larger) comet or asteroid, which then further fragmented as the result of collisions between the smaller components and other bodies. This dusty disk would be relatively young on the time scale of the star's age, and it will eventually be removed unless other collision events supply more dust. Observations, first with the
Palomar Testbed Interferometer The Palomar Testbed Interferometer (PTI) was a near infrared, long-baseline stellar interferometer located at Palomar Observatory in north San Diego County, California, United States. It was built by Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and ...
by David Ciardi and Gerard van Belle in 2001 and then later confirmed with the CHARA array at Mt. Wilson in 2006 and the Infrared Optical Telescope Array at Mt. Hopkins in 2011, revealed evidence for an inner dust band around Vega. Originating within of the star, this
exozodiacal dust Exozodiacal dust is 1–100 micrometre-sized grains of amorphous carbon and silicate dust that fill the plane of extrasolar planetary systems. It is the exoplanetary analog of zodiacal dust, the 1–100 micrometre-sized dust grains observed in th ...
may be evidence of dynamical perturbations within the system. This may be caused by an intense bombardment of
comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...
s or
meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as mi ...
s, and may be evidence for the existence of a planetary system.


Possible planets

Observations from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in 1997 revealed an "elongated bright central region" that peaked at 9″ () to the northeast of Vega. This was hypothesized as either a perturbation of the dust disk by a planet or else an orbiting object that was surrounded by dust. However, images by the
Keck telescope The W. M. Keck Observatory is an astronomical observatory with two telescopes at an elevation of 4,145 meters (13,600 ft) near the summit of Mauna Kea in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Both telescopes have aperture primary mirrors, and when co ...
had ruled out a companion down to magnitude 16, which would correspond to a body with more than 12 times the mass of Jupiter. Astronomers at the
Joint Astronomy Centre The Joint Astronomy Centre (JAC) was a management organisation based in Hilo, Hawaii, which from c.1980-2015 operated two large telescopes at Mauna Kea Observatory on behalf of an international consortium from the United Kingdom, Canada and t ...
in Hawaii and at UCLA suggested that the image may indicate a planetary system still undergoing formation. Determining the nature of the planet has not been straightforward; a 2002 paper hypothesizes that the clumps are caused by a roughly Jupiter-mass planet on an eccentric orbit. Dust would collect in orbits that have mean-motion resonances with this planet—where their orbital periods form integer fractions with the period of the planet—producing the resulting clumpiness. In 2003 it was hypothesized that these clumps could be caused by a roughly Neptune-mass planet having migrated from 40 to over 56 million years, an orbit large enough to allow the formation of smaller rocky planets closer to Vega. The migration of this planet would likely require gravitational interaction with a second, higher-mass planet in a smaller orbit. Using a coronagraph on the
Subaru Telescope is the telescope of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, located at the Mauna Kea Observatory on Hawaii. It is named after the open star cluster known in English as the Pleiades. It had the largest monolithic primary mirror in t ...
in Hawaii in 2005, astronomers were able to further constrain the size of a planet orbiting Vega to no more than 5–10 times the mass of Jupiter. The issue of possible clumps in the debris disc was revisited in 2007 using newer, more sensitive instrumentation on the Plateau de Bure Interferometer. The observations showed that the debris ring is smooth and symmetric. No evidence was found of the blobs reported earlier, casting doubts on the hypothesized giant planet. The smooth structure has been confirmed in follow-up observations by Hughes et al. (2012) and the
Herschel Space Telescope The Herschel Space Observatory was a space observatory built and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). It was active from 2009 to 2013, and was the largest infrared telescope ever launched until the launch of the James Webb Space Telesco ...
. Although a planet has yet to be directly observed around Vega, the presence of a planetary system cannot yet be ruled out. Thus there could be smaller, terrestrial planets orbiting closer to the star. The
inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Ea ...
of planetary orbits around Vega is likely to be closely aligned to the equatorial plane of this star. From the perspective of an observer on a hypothetical planet around Vega, the Sun would appear as a faint 4.3-magnitude star in the Columba constellation. In 2021, a paper analyzing 10 years of spectra of Vega detected a candidate 2.43-day signal around Vega, statistically estimated to have only a 1% chance of being a false positive. Considering the amplitude of the signal, the authors estimated a minimum mass of Earth masses, but considering the very oblique rotation of Vega itself of only 6.2° from Earth's perspective, the planet may be aligned to this plane as well, giving it an actual mass of Earth masses. The researchers also detected a faint -day signal which could translate to a Earth masses ( at 6.2° inclination) but is too faint to claim as a real signal with available data.


Etymology and cultural significance

The name is believed to be derived from the
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
term ''Al Nesr al Waki'' النسر الواقع which appeared in the Al Achsasi al Mouakket star catalogue and was translated into
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
as ''Vultur Cadens'', "the falling eagle/vulture". The constellation was represented as a vulture in ancient Egypt, and as an eagle or vulture in
ancient India According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by ...
. The Arabic name then appeared in the
western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.
in the '' Alfonsine tables'', which were drawn up between 1215 and 1270 by order of King Alfonso X. Medieval astrolabes of
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
and
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
used the names Wega and Alvaca, and depicted it and
Altair Altair is the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila and the twelfth-brightest star in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Aquilae, which is Latinised from α Aquilae and abbreviated Alpha Aql o ...
as birds. Among the northern
Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...
n people, Vega was known as ''whetu o te tau'', the year star. For a period of history it marked the start of their new year when the ground would be prepared for planting. Eventually this function became denoted by the Pleiades. The Assyrians named this pole star Dayan-same, the "Judge of Heaven", while in
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic ...
it was Tir-anna, "Life of Heaven". In
Babylonian astronomy Babylonian astronomy was the study or recording of celestial objects during the early history of Mesopotamia. Babylonian astronomy seemed to have focused on a select group of stars and constellations known as Ziqpu stars. These constellation ...
, Vega may have been one of the stars named Dilgan, "the Messenger of Light". To the
ancient Greeks Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
, the constellation Lyra was formed from the harp of
Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with J ...
, with Vega as its handle. For the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
, the start of autumn was based upon the hour at which Vega set below the horizon. In Chinese, (), meaning ''
Weaving Girl ''Weaving Girl'' is a 2009 Chinese film directed by Wang Quan'an. Wang's fourth feature film, ''Weaving Girl'' stars Wang's frequent collaborator and former partner, actress Yu Nan. Title According to director Wang Quan'an, the film's title, ''Wea ...
(asterism)'', refers to an asterism consisting of Vega, ε Lyrae and ζ1 Lyrae. Consequently, the Chinese name for Vega is (, en, the First Star of Weaving Girl). In
Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of ...
, there is a love story of
Qixi The Qixi Festival ( zh, 七夕), also known as the Qiqiao Festival ( zh, 七巧, links=no), is a Chinese festival celebrating the annual meeting of Zhinü and Niulang in Chinese mythology... The festival is celebrated on the seventh day of th ...
() in which Niulang (,
Altair Altair is the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila and the twelfth-brightest star in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Aquilae, which is Latinised from α Aquilae and abbreviated Alpha Aql o ...
) and his two children (
β Aquilae Beta Aquilae, Latinized from β Aquilae, is a triple star system in the equatorial constellation of Aquila. It is visible to the naked eye as a point-like source with an apparent visual magnitude of 3.87. Based on parallax measurement ...
and
γ Aquilae Gamma Aquilae, Latinized from γ Aquilae, and formally known as Tarazed , is a star in the constellation of Aquila. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 2.712, making it readily visible to the naked eye at night. Parallax measurement ...
) are separated from their mother Zhinü (, lit. "weaver girl", Vega) who is on the far side of the river, the
Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...
. However, one day per year on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, magpies make a bridge so that Niulang and Zhinü can be together again for a brief encounter. The Japanese Tanabata festival, in which Vega is known as ''Orihime'' (織姫), is also based on this legend. In
Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...
, Vega was sometimes associated with Vanant, a minor divinity whose name means "conqueror". The indigenous
Boorong The Wergaia or Werrigia people are an Aboriginal Australian group in the Mallee (Victoria), Mallee and Wimmera regions of north-Western Victoria (Australia), Victoria, made up of a number of clans. The people were also known as the Maligundidj ( ...
people of northwestern Victoria, Australia, named it as ''Neilloan'', "the flying
loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...
". In the ''
Srimad Bhagavatam The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in ...
'', Shri Krishna tells Arjuna, that among the Nakshatras he is Abhijit, which remark indicates the auspiciousness of this Nakshatra.
Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
astrologers counted Vega as one of the Behenian stars and related it to chrysolite and winter savory. Cornelius Agrippa listed its kabbalistic sign under ''Vultur cadens'', a literal Latin translation of the Arabic name. Medieval star charts also listed the alternate names Waghi, Vagieh and Veka for this star. W. H. Auden's 1933 poem " A Summer Night (to Geoffrey Hoyland)" famously opens with the couplet, "Out on the lawn I lie in bed,/Vega conspicuous overhead". Vega became the first star to have a car named after it with the French Facel Vega line of cars from 1954 onwards, and later on, in America, Chevrolet launched the Vega in 1971. Other vehicles named after Vega include the ESA's Vega launch system and the Lockheed Vega aircraft.


Notes


References


External links

* * * {{Authority control A-type main-sequence stars Delta Scuti variables Circumstellar disks Hypothetical planetary systems Castor Moving Group Lyra (constellation) Lyrae, Alpha 7001 Durchmusterung objects Lyrae, 03 0721 172167 091262 Lambda Boötis stars Northern pole stars Vega