Spica
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The Spica system is a binary star system, whose stars are so close they can only be identified as a double star through spectroscopy.[1][2] Spica A and Spica B are only Astronomical units apart, and their mutual orbit is 4 days long. Both Spica A and Spica B are blue giant stars.
Spica A's diameter is about 7.5 times that of Sol, our sun. Its mass is about 11 times that of Sol. Spica B's diameter is about 3.5 times that of Sol, our sun, and its mass is about 11 times that of Sol.[3]
The Spica system is in the constellation Virgo, and it is the 16th brightest star system in our night sky.[1][2] Stars more massive than Sol have to shine much more brightly than Sol, because they require a more intense Hydrogen fusion in their core. Spica A's estimated lifespan is 10-15 million years, while Sol's lifespan is about 10 billion years.
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1
"Spica, Virgo's brightest star, is a binary star system". Learn the Sky. Archived from the original on 2025-10-01. Retrieved 2026-06-22 – via YouTube.
Spica is an bright blue star and is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. It is approximately 230 light-years away from Earth. Its luminosity, or brightness, is over 500 times that of our sun.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1
"pica: The Sixteenth Brightest Star in the Night Sky". Learn the Sky. Retrieved 2026-06-22 – via YouTube.
Spica is a binary star system with two blue main sequence stars. They orbit so close to each other that their shapes are distorted.
- ↑
Deborah Byrd (2026-05-26). "Spica, the bright beacon of Virgo, is 2 stars". EarthSky magazine. Archived from the original on 2026-05-29. Retrieved 2026-06-21.
Both the stars that we know make up Spica are larger and hotter than our sun. And they’re separated by only 11 million miles (less than 18 million km). That’s not much more than 10% of the distance between Earth and our sun (93 million miles or 150 million km). They orbit their common center of gravity in only four days.