William Tyler Olcott

“ Vega is the second brightest star to be seen in this latitude, Sirius alone surpassing it in splendour. In spite of its great brilliance, Vega is not one of our near neighbours. According to Peck it is eighteen light years distant, some authorities say twenty-nine. If the distance from the earth to the sun is regarded as one foot, that from Vega would be 158 miles, and if our sun occupied the place of Vega, it would appear to us as a faint point of light just visible to the naked eye. ”

“ According to this explanation, the sun follows Eurydice, "the wide-spreading flush of the dawn, who has been stung by the serpent of night," into the regions of darkness. There he recovers Eurydice, but while he looks back upon her she fades before his gaze, as the mists of the morning vanish before the glory of the rising sun. ”

“ Early in May the star rises at about the same hour that the sun sets, and all summer long it is the gayest and perhaps the most instantly attractive star in the evening skies. ... Vega has a companion star, much smaller than itself, revolving around it, which is of the same beautiful bluish colour as the larger star. The companion is of about the tenth magnitude and can be seen only with a large telescope. Vega is about four thousand times brighter than her companion. ”