pair · Virgo · a plate in Stars
Spica
α Virginis
Among the later names: a lamp that looks singular until the instrument splits it.
The wheat-ear. Virgo’s star by constellation office. Harvest as a coordinate.
Astronomy · astrophysics
- Magnitude
- 0.97
- Distance
- about 250 light-years
- Spectrum
- B1 III-IV + B2 V
- Coordinates
- 13h 25m · −11° 10′
A close spectroscopic binary. The wheat-ear is two blue lamps.
α Vir is a spectroscopic binary of two B-type stars, period about 4.01 days.
First-magnitude. Distance about 250 light-years. Lies near the ecliptic, so the Moon and planets can occult it.
Living
Still Virgo’s star by constellation office. The later choir, not the first flowering.
Sources
- SIMBAD
- spectroscopic-binary catalogues
Choir
Rotanev · SualocinSiriusIzar · PulcherrimaThubanCapellaRigelMeropeTolimanM42Jupiter · IoSpicaFomalhautArcturusAlhenaCanopusWorking choir · not a planetarium