5th Brightest Star 'Vega' To Shine Visibly on All Evenings of May; Here's How and Where You Can Watch It

For the entire month of May, the sky's fifth brightest star will be visible over the deep night sky.

Vega: 5th Brightest Star in the Sky

According to MailOnline, this 450-million-year-old star is usually visible each summer. Its bright shine over the summer is due to how the Earth gets positioned around the Sun during this time.

The Almanac reports that Vega is also the third-brightest star that can be seen from mid- to northern latitudes. It is part of the famous Summer Triangle pattern, which Altair and Deneb are also part of.

There are some stories and folktales that surround both Vega and Altair. In most cases, they tend to be a version of a particular story, wherein a cosmic goddess falls in love with a mortal being, but the father of the goddess does not grant his blessing for such a union. The deities, however, end up pitying the both of them and allowing them to soar over the sky as Vega and Altair.

Also known as the Harp Star, Vega also serves as a "standard candle" that the global community of astronomers uses to calibrate the brightness of other objects across the Universe. This is due to its steady zero-magnitude shine. The star serves as a reference point for the brightness magnitude system across the sky.

MailOnline adds that back in 2013, specialists found evidence of an asteroid belt around the star, which is similar to the one encircling the Sun. If this is confirmed, Vega may have a Solar System of its own that has rocky planets like Mars or Earth.

How and Where To Watch Vega?

According to Earth Sky, those from the Northern hemisphere can easily spot the radiant and bluish Vega. All that needs to be done is to face northeastward during the May mid-evenings. The star is so bright that it can still be seen on moonlit evenings.

For those situated in the Southern Hemisphere, Vega will not be visible until late at night. This is due to the star's far-north location. It will be at its highest point on the horizon roughly three to four hours past midnight. At such a time, people from the Southern Hemisphere may witness the star in the northern sky.

While Vega is typically thought to be a summer or late-spring star, it is situated far north of middle latitudes across the Northern Hemisphere. Because of this, it can be spotted at night almost every night of the year.

Overall, for those situated in the Northern Hemisphere, Vega is easy to identify. By simply facing northeast during the evening, individuals may get to witness the bluish and bright star shining over the horizons.

Check out more news and information on Space in Science Times.