Lyra / Cygnus / Aquila

Summer Triangle

Vega-Deneb-Altair triangle

common observer pattern · high confidence

Vega, Deneb, and Altair frame the Milky Way's summer river. The triangle is huge, high, and forgiving: start with Vega overhead, then sweep east to Deneb and south to Altair.

Central RA: 19^h 43^m 08.9^s
Central Dec: +30° 58′ 39″
Brightest member: V 0.03
Best months from 50°N: June–September evenings
Suggested instrument: naked-eye
Approx. span: 38.0°

Finder context

Use the nearby bright stars to locate the gold box, then move to the larger chart for the pattern itself.

Framing: Approximate member-star span: 38.0°; use at least 53.2° field for context.

Observing and imaging

Naked eye

Start with the unaided eye. Suburban skies usually show the main stars.

Binoculars

Binoculars are optional: use them to check colours, nearby doubles, or richer Milky Way background.

Small scope

A telescope is usually too narrow for the whole shape; use it after the pattern has guided you to a target.

Imaging

Frame a 53° field around Lyra / Cygnus / Aquila to include the pattern and its nearby stars.

Tonight from your latitude

Set your location and date to see a useful window, peak altitude, sky visibility, and Moon conditions. Use Month to compare the season ahead.

Latitude 50°NLongitude -114°Date Month Sky darkness Bortle 4 · limit V 6.1

Naked-eye visibility by sky class

Bortle class rates night-sky brightness. The atlas counts a pattern as recognisable when at least 70% of its defining stars are visible.

Bortle 3: 3/3 stars — fully visibleBortle 5: 3/3 stars — fully visibleBortle 7: 3/3 stars — fully visible

Moon impact

For 50°N in the best month, green dates mark at least two hours with the pattern above 20° and the Moon below the horizon.

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Member stars

Name	Bayer / Flamsteed	HR	RA J2000	Dec J2000	V mag
Vega	3Alp Lyr	HR 7001	18^h 36^m 56.3^s	+38° 47′ 01″	0.03
Altair	53Alp Aql	HR 7557	19^h 50^m 47.0^s	+08° 52′ 06″	0.77
Deneb	50Alp Cyg	HR 7924	20^h 41^m 25.9^s	+45° 16′ 49″	1.25

Source and confidence

common observer pattern; high confidence. Widely used observing pattern across several constellations.

Citations

Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed.: Hoffleit, D. & Warren, W.H. Jr. (1991). Positions, V magnitudes, Bayer/Flamsteed identifiers. source
Star Tales: Ridpath, I. Constellation and asterism notes used to cross-check common sky-pattern names. source
The Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues: ESA SP-1200 (1997). Used as the modern astrometric reference named by the atlas; the MVP pages expose BSC5 J2000 fields for the plotted bright-star members.