The Vegan System
Vega,
which means "swooping eagle" in Arabic, is
part of the constellation Lyra. It is the fifth brightest
star in our the sky and has a surface temperature of almost
twice that of our Sun. Vega lies relatively near to us, "only" 26.5
light-years away. This star is the oldest star in the constellation
at 350 million years old.
13,000 years ago, Vega was our North Star. Though Polaris now holds that distinction, Vega will once again be our North Star in 13,000 years.
As our own Sun moves through our galaxy (the Milky Way) is in the general direction of Vega at a rate of about 18 km a second. However, even at 18 km/s, it will take millions of years to reach Vega's present location, by which time Vega will be long gone since its moving too!
You might recall that, in the movie Contact, Vega was the source of radio transmissions received by astronomer Ellie Arrowway (Jodie Foster). She was ultimately transported to Vega to communicate with extraterrestrials.
