The Fixed Stars

Sheliak

Beta Lyrae

From an Arabic name for the lyre itself. It stands at about 19° Capricorn (tropical).

A star that breathes, dimming and brightening like a slow bow stroke.

Sheliak takes its name from an Arabic word for the instrument, the harp naming one of its own strings. It is a famous eclipsing pair, two close suns trading light so that the star visibly dims and recovers every thirteen days, a rhythm you can follow with the naked eye against its neighbors. Little traditional astrological lore attaches to it.

Little traditional lore attaches to this star; its variability is modern knowledge, not old delineation.