Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, July 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 9:10, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:28. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 2:08 tomorrow morning.

After it gets dark, nearly overhead, appears the bright star Vega, the brightest of the stars of the Summer Triangle. It is part of the constellation called Lyra the harp. The form of the harp is a lyre, which has a U-shaped frame with a bar across the top, the strings are strung from the bar down to the base of the U. According to Greek myth it was invented by the god Hermes who used a tortoise shell as the base of the U. He gave it to Apollo, who in turn gave it to Orpheus. Orpheus had the greatest musical talent. His singing and lyre playing would make animals and even inanimate objects dance. The constellation itself consists of Vega and a parallelogram of four stars which are seen below it.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum