Vega shines as a key star in the night sky with new discoveries on its brightness and dust disk

Vega, located in the constellation Lyra, is the sixth-brightest star in the sky and was historically the North Star. It was the first distant star photographed in 1850 and has been a standard for measuring star brightness for over a century. Recent discoveries show that Vega has variable brightness, changing by up to 10%. Additionally, it is surrounded by a dust disk, which affects its light and makes it less suitable as a brightness standard. Vega's dust disk is unusual and has not formed planets, unlike our solar system. This feature is currently being studied by the James Webb Space Telescope.