Particulars:
General:
A small but bright northern constellation lying between DECL=+30 and DECL=+40 and RA=18h and RA=19h. The fifth-brightest star of the sky, alpha Lyr, called Vega (arabic for "stone eagle"), radiates from the top Lyra with a pure white colour. Together with alpha Cyg, Deneb , and alpha Aql, Atair, Vega forms the Summer Triangle.
Stars and other objects
Beta Lyr is a half separated (i.e. one of the stars
reached its Rochevolume) eclipsing binary of a cream-white
colour. The brightness varies from 3.4 mag to 4.3 mag every
twelve days and 22 hours. With larger telescopes beta Lyr
is resolved as an attractive double star with an blue companion
of 8th mag. Additionally two other 9th mag companions can be seen
in small telescopes).
Another double variable is delta Lyr. With the help of
binoculars you can view a blue-white star of 6th mag and a
semi-regular red giant. The brightness of the latter varies
erratically from 4th to 5th magnitude.
An easy object with binoculars or small telescopes is zeta Lyr
consisting of a 4th and a 6th mag star.
One of the most celebrated quadruple stars in the sky is epsilon
Lyr. It is commonly known as the Double Double. In a
very clear, moonless night it is possible to see the wide pair of
5th mag stars. Each star of this double is an double itself. But
to resolve them a telescope with at least 60 mm aperture and a
high magnification is needed.
The binary a 11871 requires telescopes with an aperture of
at least 12cm for resolution. The two stars orbit each other with
a period of 62 years.
The famous Ring Nebula, M 57, is perhaps
somewhat disappointing when viewed through amateur telescopes but
really terrific on long-exposure photographs. In small telescopes
it presents itself on dark nights as a ghostly elliptical disk.
Its apparent size is larger than that of Jupiter. To see the
central hole a telescope of at least 150 mm aperture is needed.
The central, very blue star is so faint that it is beyond the
power of amateur telescopes to be revealed. The nebula can be
found half way between beta Lyr and gamma Lyr.
Three meteor showers seem to radiate from this constellation: the
Lyrids, the June Lyrids and the Alpha Lyrids. The
latter two are active in the summer time. The Alpha Lyrids
are visible from july, 9th, to july, 20th, and reach their
maximum activity on the 14th of july. As the name suggests the June
Lyrids can be observed in june, from the 10th to the 21st
reaching the maximum on the 15th with an hourly rate of about 8
meteors. The Lyrids are typically visible from April, 16th, to
April 25th, with its maximum around the 20th to 21st. Detailed
information can be found in Gary Kronk's database about meteor
showers.
Mythological Background:
Lyra is thought to represent the harp of Orpheus.
On older skymaps Lyra ist represented as a bird: Vultur, the
Vulture. Together with the Cygnus, the Swan, and Aquila, the
Eagle, it is hunted by Hercules.
Another story says that Mercury invented the lyre by placing
strings across the back of a tortoise shell. So sometimes in
early descriptions this constellation is also drawn as a
tortoise.