Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra the Harp. That’s why it’s often called the Harp Star.
Larry Sessions writes for EarthSky about astronomy and other topics related to physical science, emphasizing observations that can be made with little or no equipment. He also writes and maintains his own astronomy website, as well as class websites for the classes he teaches. His North American Skies website has earned a one of “Ten Cool Sites” recognition by the Exploratorium, and the Griffith Observatory Star Award.
A former planetarium director in Little Rock, Fort Worth and Denver, Larry currently is an adjunct faculty member at Metropolitan State College of Denver, and at the Community College of Aurora (CCA, Colorado). He is a co-recipient of the 2010 Tom Brosh Adjunct Faculty Award at CCA, and a former longtime member of “Solar System Ambassadors” program of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For six years he was a contributing writer for the Sky Calendar on Space.com. In addition, he was formerly the managing editor at the Denver Museum of Natural History, as well as for the award-winning “Weather Guide” calendar from Accord Publishing. His articles have appeared in numerous publications including Sky & Telescope, Astronomy and Rolling Stone. His small book on world star lore, Constellations, was published by Running Press.
Larry is a member the SouthWestern Association of Planetariums. He lives in Denver with his wife, Marlene, and their three dogs, Mikatsuki (“New Moon”), Sachiko (“Joyful Child”) and Yoshi ("Lucky").
Posts by Larry
May 03, 2012
Tonight
12 Comments
Tonight see Saturn and Spica near the waxing gibbous moon. Spica is a double star system, and both stars are hotter and brighter than the sun.
Apr 21, 2012
Tonight
75 Comments
Tonight is the peak night for the 2012 Lyrid meteor shower, from late night Saturday (April 21) until dawn Sunday (April 22). Expect 10-20 meteors per hour.
Apr 16, 2012
Space
7 Comments
Ten oddities and misconceptions about space that you may — or may not — have heard before.
Apr 13, 2012
Brightest Stars
20 Comments
Spica is a binary star, with two stars larger and hotter than the sun, telescopically indistinguishable from a single point of light.
Apr 07, 2012
Brightest Stars
2 Comments
If you’re in the U.S., you must be at about New Orleans’ latitude to glimpse it. From the southern hemisphere, Mimosa is a prominent and beloved star.
Apr 03, 2012
Space
71 Comments
Here’s a collection of 10 unexpected and intriguing facts about our solar system – our sun and its family of planets – you probably did not know!
Mar 31, 2012
Brightest Stars
20 Comments
Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion, is known to spin rapidly on its axis. If it spun only slightly more rapidly, the star would fly apart.
Mar 13, 2012
Tonight
141 Comments
On the morning of March 14, the moon passes two stars in the tail of the constellation Scorpius. They are sometimes called The Stinger.
Mar 12, 2012
Tonight
42 Comments
Look southward on the morning of March 13 to see the moon near Antares, the ruby Heart of the Scorpion.
