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Strange Universe With Bob Berman
Strange Universe

Straight overhead

By Bob Berman
Published October 12, 2025 at 1:14 PM EDT
NASA/CXC

It can be tricky to pinpoint the spot directly overhead in the sky, but, you can find it by looking for Deneb, a bright star nearly at the zenith. While not as brilliant as nearby Vega, Deneb is one of the most luminous stars in the sky, shining with the power of 58,000 Suns from 1,500 light-years away. If it were as close as Sirius, its light would outshine our streetlights. Deneb is also significant because it lies in the direction Earth is moving as the Sun carries us around the galaxy at 144 miles per second. Though we’ll never catch it—it’s moving too—it’s still a powerful feeling to look up and point toward the future.

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