Star 150 TRILLION miles from Earth shines as a blue dot in the night sky in May

A star 150 trillion miles from Earth will shine as a beautiful blue dot in the night sky in May.

Vega, the fifth brightest star in our sky, will appear below the horizon by mid-evening in the Northern Hemisphere, rising four minutes earlier each day as our planet travels around the sun.

The 450-million-year-old star will be visible in the southern hemisphere until four hours past midnight, and will be seen from northern latitudes early in the morning.

Although Vega is visible in the night sky each summer, it is perhaps best known in popular culture as the origin of an alien message in the book and Hollywood movie Contact, starring Jodie Foster.

Vega shines brightly each year as summer creeps into the Northern Hemisphere due to Earth’s position around the sun.

For those living in mid-northern latitudes, Vega only sets below the horizon for about seven hours a day, meaning it’s visible almost every night of the year.

Farther south, Vega lies below the horizon for a long time, but never sets in Alaska, northern Canada, and much of Europe.

And in May it can be seen with the naked eye, even in bright moonlight.

Vega was the North Star several thousand years ago and will resume its name in about 12,000 years. Space. com reports.

This is because our perception of the north is changing to different stars over a cycle of 26,000 years due to the oscillation of the Earth’s axis.

Vega forms the Summer Triangle with two other stars, Altair and Deneb, and although it appears in ancient texts, it was first photographed in 1850.

It has been a focus of astronomers, who used it to learn more about solar systems that are in the early stages of their formation

Vega, known as the Harp Star, is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra

In 2013, astronomers discovered evidence of an asteroid belt surrounding the star like the one that orbits the sun.

If confirmed, Vega likely has a solar system with rocky planets similar to Earth or Mars.

In our own system, the asteroid belt beyond the orbit of Mars is maintained by the gravity of rocky planets and gas giants such as Jupiter and Saturn.

Astronomer Dr Kate Su, from the Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona, said: ‘Our findings reflect recent results showing that multi-planet systems are common beyond our sun.’

Scientists suspect that hidden planets sweep the area between the tapes free of dust.

They believe Vega may have several undetected planets up to the size of Jupiter.

The limitations of current planet detection techniques make it difficult to discover small rocky planets or larger worlds in distant orbits.

Similar debris belts were found around another star, Fomalhaut, which is known to have at least one candidate planet.

“In general, the large gap between the warm and cold belts is a signpost pointing to multiple planets likely orbiting Vega and Fomalhaut,” said Dr Su.