Lyra (the Harp) is a small but
important northern constellation located between Hercules and Cygnus. Its
brightest star,
Vega (magnitude 0.04), is the fifth
brightest in the heavens. Located 26 light-years from the Sun, Vega will be the pole star in about 12,000 years because of the precession of the Earth's axis. The second-brightest star, Sheliak (from the Arabic al-shalyaq, meaning "harp"), is an eclipsing binary. Another object in the constellation, Epsilon Lyrae, is resolvable, with keen eyesight or binoculars, into two stars; a telescope reveals that each of them in turn is double. Other
important objects include the Ring Nebula in Lyra (M 57, or NGC 6720)Ña planetary nebula shaped like an elliptical smoke ringÑand the prototype RR Lyrae variable star.