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Constellation

How to find Lyra

Small but brilliant — led by Vega and hiding the famous Ring Nebula.

✦ By Stellathe LyreBest July–August
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Hemisphere
Northern sky
Best seen
July–August
Brightest star
Vega
Abbreviation
Lyr

Vega — the brilliant blue-white star that dominates summer evenings.

Lyra is a small constellation with an outsized presence, because it contains Vega — one of the brightest stars in the sky and a corner of the Summer Triangle. On summer evenings Vega blazes almost directly overhead.

Just below Vega is a small, neat parallelogram of stars that makes the constellation easy to pin down.

Vega and a hidden smoke ring

Between the two bottom stars of Lyra's parallelogram sits the Ring Nebula (M57), a perfect smoke-ring of gas puffed off by a dying star. It's small but shows clearly in a modest telescope.

Near Vega, sharp-eyed observers can split the 'Double Double' (Epsilon Lyrae) — a pair of pairs.

How to find it

  • Look nearly overhead on summer evenings for a single very bright blue-white star — Vega
  • Just south-east of Vega is a small parallelogram of four fainter stars
  • Vega forms the Summer Triangle with Deneb and Altair

Deep-sky highlights

  • Ring Nebula (M57) — a textbook planetary nebula
  • Double Double (Epsilon Lyrae) — two close pairs of stars
Explore on Stella
What's in the sky this monthWhat to see tonight (guide)Find a darker sky (Bortle scale)

Stella shows exactly when Lyra is highest from your location tonight — and whether the sky is worth it.

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Nearby in the sky

Northern sky

Cygnus

The Northern Cross flying down the Milky Way — one corner of the Summer Triangle.

Equatorial

Aquila

The Eagle flying up the Milky Way, led by Altair — the third corner of the Summer Triangle.

Southern sky

Scorpius

One of the few constellations that actually looks like its namesake — a curving scorpion led by red Antares.