From Spaceref

STONY BROOK, N.Y. -- Vega, the second brightest star in the northern sky, is a 'standard' that has been used to calibrate astronomical observations from the ultraviolet through to the infrared, and it is the main star against which models of stellar atmospheres are compared. But problems with its use as a standard led to the suggestion that it is rapidly rotating -- a theory that has now been confirmed by a Stony Brook University researcher.

Deane Peterson, an Associate Professor of Astronomy at Stony Brook, and colleagues now confirm that Vega, the 5th brightest star overall in the universe, is rotating so fast that if it sped up by just 10 per cent it would spin to pieces, according to research published in this week's edition of the scientific journal Nature. Vega is flattened significantly by the rotation, which means that the temperature at the star's surface varies hugely, being over 2,400 degrees Celsius hotter at the poles (around 10,000 degrees Celsius) than at the equator, because the equator is farther from the energy-generating center.

Further reading reveals the Vega’s polar axis is more or less pointing at Earth, something I had no idea of. I also didn’t know that Vega was the 5th brightest star in the universe. I thought it was the 5th brightest star seen from Earth. A technicality of 'overall' I’m missing?

Adam, straighten me out. ;-)