Spica

stars · constellations · binary systems

Super bright star. Spica is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo and ranks among the top 20 brightest stars you can see in the night sky from Earth. It's so brilliant that ancient skywatchers named it and mapped it into the pattern of Virgo the maiden.

Two stars dancing. Spica is actually a binary star system, meaning two stars orbit around each other so closely they stretch into egg shapes instead of staying round. These two stars are so close together that astronomers can only tell them apart by studying their light.

Blue giant star. The main star in the Spica system is a blue giant, which means it's much hotter and bigger than our Sun. Blue giant stars are young, powerful, and burn their fuel incredibly fast compared to stars like our Sun.

250 light-years away. Spica sits 250 light-years from Earth, which means the light you see from it tonight has been traveling through space for 250 years. That light started its journey when the American Revolution was just beginning!