Aster › Space program › Vega
Vega
Position on the route: 131/181 · level needed 1140 · journey (Mk0 engine) 335.0 h
By the numbers
| Distance | ≈ 25 light-years |
|---|---|
| Mass | ≈ 2.1 Suns |
| Temperature | ≈ 9,600 K |
| Luminosity | ≈ 40 Suns |
The story
Vega is the brightest star of Lyra and one of the brightest of the northern sky. About 25 light-years away, a blue-white A-type star, it served for many years as the ‘zero point’ of the magnitude scale.
It spins fast (a turn in about 12.5 hours at the equator), so it is flattened and hotter at the poles than the equator. In 1983 IRAS found a dust disc around it: among the first signs of planet-forming material around another star. Around the year 13,700 it will again be the North Star.
Missions
- IRAS (1983): the dust disc
- Spitzer, Webb: details of the rings
Colony note
No surface; an orbital station only.
☠ A fast-spinning blue-white star with a dust disc: no surface to land on. An orbital station only.
What probes bring back
- About 25 light-years away: one of the brightest stars of the northern sky and the long-time ‘zero point’ of the magnitude scale. It spins so fast it is flattened and hotter at the poles.
- In 1983 IRAS found a dust disc around it: among the first signs of planet-forming material around another star. In Carl Sagan’s novel ‘Contact’ it is where the signal comes from.