Right now, if you look up into the eastern sky late in the evening, you can see what's known as "the Summer Triangle". It's not a constellation, but 3 very bright stars from 3 different constellations:"Brightest of the three is Vega, in the constellation of Lyra, the Lyre. Next in brightness is Altair in Aquila, the Eagle. Finally, there is Deneb in Cygnus, the Swan.
To our eyes, Altair appears to shine only half as bright as Vega and Deneb seems only one-third as bright as Vega. So at first glance, Vega appears to rule this section of the sky. In reality, however, a bit of celestial deception is at work here, for Vega is appears very bright chiefly because of its proximity to us. Vega is 25 light-years away, so when you are looking at it tonight, you are really seeing it as it was back in 1982."
With the moon waning from last quarter to new this week, it should be a good time to observe these celestial wonders. "You are really seeing it as it was back in 1982." Get your head around that. Is that cool or what?
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