John Chumack/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
IN THE northern hemisphere, summer nights are marked by an asterism (a pattern of stars that isn’t an official constellation) called the summer triangle. Despite the name, the three stars that make it up aren’t just visible in this season: many stargazers in the southern hemisphere also get a glimpse of them in their winter months too.
The summer triangle is a vivid asterism, made up of the brightest stars from the constellations Aquila, Lyra and Cygnus. Altair, a star from Aquila, is the twelfth brightest in the night sky. Lyra’s Vega is only 25 light years away from us,…
