Vega

Here is a simple, summer astronomy activity. Look high in the sky and find the brightest star. That is Vega (VEE geh or VAY geh) in the constellation Lyra. Now, if you know no other star, you will know that one!

Vega claims a lot of firsts:

• First star photographed (Harvard Observatory, July 17, 1850)
• First having its spectrum photographed (its various colors of light)
• First with a car named after it (Chevrolet’s Vega, 1971). :-)

Vega’s constellation is Lyra, usually represented as a lyre or harp. However, from Egyptian and Indian art, and from Arabic and Hebrew names for Lyra and its stars, it appears that anciently the constellation was presented as an eagle or a vulture.

Cultures worldwide associate the eagle with the idea of divinity. Images of “divine” kings include great sculpted wings.

Although God did not allow images of himself, He used this symbolism in telling Israel: “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself,” Exodus 19:4.

“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge,” Psalm 91:4.

In Ezekiel’s vision of “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD,” the cherubim accompanying the chariot of God each had four faces, one of which was an eagle.

When you look up at Vega and let it remind you of the overshadowing presence of your Creator, you are practicing “devotional astronomy.”