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The planetary systems of stars other than the Sun and the Solar System are a staple element in much science fiction. Vega (Alpha Lyrae) is a blue-white star in the constellation Lyra (the lyre, see ''High Sierra'', below) that is frequently featured in works of science fiction. Like its bright cousins Sirius, Deneb, and Altair, it is classified as a star of spectral type A. Roughly two and a half times the size of the Sun, it is 40 times as luminous and, together with Arcturus and Sirius, one of the most radiant stars in our galactic neighborhood. Its luminosity joins with its relative proximity to the Earth—it is only 25 light-years away—to make it the fifth brightest star in the night sky (see French and English Tragedy by George Croly, below). Vega is rendered decidedly oblate by its rapid rate of rotation, and since it is pole-on to the Sun, it appears significantly larger to earthbound observers than it actually is. For this and a variety of other reasons Vega has been extensively studied by astronomers, leading it to be termed "arguably the next most important star in the sky after the Sun." Based on an observed excess emission of infrared radiation, Vega appears to have a circumstellar disk of dust. This dust is likely to be the result of massive collisions between objects in an orbiting debris belt, and it is analogous to the Kuiper belt in the Solar System. Irregularities in the disk also suggest the presence of at least one planet, about the size of Jupiter, in an orbit large enough to allow the formation of smaller rocky planets closer to the star. Regardless of its ultimate tally of planetary companions, the fact that it has an estimated age of just 455 million years〔 suggests that the Vega system is too young to have fostered the development of life or a complex biosphere on any of its worlds. The name Wega (later Vega) comes from a loose transliteration of the Arabic word ' meaning "falling" or "landing," via the phrase ', "the falling eagle." The star figures prominently in the mythology of cultures as diverse as the Polynesian, ancient Greek, Roman, Chinese (see ''Qi Xi'' below), Persian, and Hindu. ==General uses of Vega== Vega may be referred to in fictional works for its metaphorical (meta) or mythological (myth) associations, or else as a bright point of light in the sky of the Earth, but not as a location in space or the center of a planetary system. * ''Qi Xi'' (206 BCE – 220 CE), "the night of sevens," festival honoring a Han dynasty legend. The young cowherd Niú Láng (Altair) meets by chance and marries Zhī Nŭ the weaver girl (''Vega''), seventh daughter of the Celestial Goddess; the two live happily together and have a pair of children (his flanking stars β and γ Aquilae). The Goddess, furious that Zhī Nŭ has married a mere mortal, orders her home to resume her day job weaving colorful clouds. Niú Láng follows her, but is not unnoticed by the mother, who angrily uses her hairpin to scratch a wide river in the sky—the Milky Way—to separate the lovers forever. Once a year all the magpies in the world take pity on them and fly up to heaven to form a bridge over the star Deneb in Cygnus, so that they may be together for a single night (see graphic). (myth) * "French and English Tragedy" (1823), magazine article by the Rev. George Croly. Croley, in describing the white nights of St. Petersburg, writes ''To the ordinary eye the heavens, though clear, are almost starless; only brilliants like ''Vega'' and Arcturus have power to make an impression upon the retina. Summer midnight in the Russian capital is thus a simple twilight...'' (sky) * ''Emily's Quest'' (1927), novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery (previously author of Anne of Green Gables ''et seq''). Emily Starr and Teddy Kent have been friends since childhood, and as Teddy is about to leave to further his education as an artist, Emily believes that their friendship is blossoming into something more. On their last night together she sighs, ''Look at that star, Teddy – the one just over the youngest Princess. It’s ''Vega'' of the Lyre. I’ve always loved it. It’s my dearest among the stars.'' They vow to think of each other when they see this symbol of faithfulness in the heavens. (sky, meta) * "Talk of the Town" (1933), ''New Yorker'' feuilleton by E. B. White. White describes the "telescope man" of Bryant Park in New York: ''He charges ten cents for a look at the tip of the Empire State Building, and only five cents for a look at ''Vega'', star of the first magnitude. The tip of the building, being not far away, is pleasantly comprehensible to his customers. ''Vega'', being three times as remote as Sirius, merely gives them a feeling of cosmic despondency, a dizzy, uneasy moment in West Forty-second Street. They find it more comforting to pay five cents more, and not see so far.'' (sky) * ''High Sierra'' (1941), film written by John Huston and W. R. Burnett, and directed by Raoul Walsh. On his way to a planned heist in the Sierra Nevada mountains, Roy Earle (Humphrey Bogart) meets Velma (Joan Leslie). Under the night sky one romantic evening, they gaze at the heavens: () ''Look at the stars. I never knew there were so many stars in the sky…'' Roy looks up, then points to the zenith. () ''See that bright blue star up there? That's ''Vega''. See how it sparkles? It's in kind of a lopsided square with points running up... see it? That's the constellation ''Lyra. () ''I see it. How do you know?'' () ''A man I used to know, a pal of mine, learned me all about the sky.'' (Awkwardly.) ''There wasn't much else to do where we was.'' () ''Is that star always up there like that?'' (sky) * ''A padlás'' (1988), popular Hungarian language musical comedy written by Gábor Presser, Dusán Sztevanovity, and Péter Horváth, and directed by László Marton. Four ghosts roam the Earth from attic to attic (staying close to the heavens), waiting for the ferryman Révész, who will conduct them to Vega, the star of "eternal beauty." Vega is where all dreams and memories live, and if they can get there, they will become beautiful forever. (meta) ''There follow references to Vega as a location in space or the center of a planetary system, categorized by genre:'' 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Vega in fiction」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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