The 7th day of the 7th month of the Lunar Calendar is known as the Qixi or Tanabata in Japanese. In Chinese mythology, Altair and Vega reunite on this day. The weaver girl was the granddaughter of the Jade Emperor and had weaved many colourful clouds in the sky and was in love with the cowherd but were separated by the Heavenly Mother with the Milky Way. In extreme grief the Jade Emperor allowed them to cross the Milky Way with the magpie bridge and met each other during the Qixi every year.

Altair (the star of cowherd) is 16 light-years away from Vega (the star of weaver), so they can't get together in one day. However, the day of 7th of the 7th lunar month has become a festival in some places with different celebrations like having fried dumplings and letting off fireworks, or even treat this day as the Valentine's Day. In Hong Kong, we don't celebrate the day as in other places, but we can still get to know Altair and Vega through stargazing.

Altair is the brightest star in the constellation Aquila and the twelfth brightest star in the sky whilst Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra and the fifth brightest star overall. If you look carefully, you will find another bright star nearby forming a triangle with Altair and Vega. This is Deneb of the constellation Cygnus. These three noticeable stars in the summer sky are known as the summer triangle. When the sky and weather is clear, we can observe them easily with our naked eyes even in the city! Wish you all can enjoy the glimpse of starlight on this romantic Chinese Valentine's Day with your friends and families!