Spica
(pronounced either "Spike-ah or Speak-ah") is a true double star whose
two companions whirl around each other, completing one orbit every 72
hours at a distance of only 18 million miles from each other. This dance
has deformed both stars into the shape of twin footballs and they
exchange mass constantly.
This 33rd star in the Nautical Almanac is also known as Alpha Virginis, Spica Virginis ("The Virgin's Spike"), or in old texts Arista or Azimech, both meaning "The Undefended" or "The Defenseless." It is the brightest star in the constellation Virginis, more commonly known as Virgo The Virgin, which is the sixth sign of the Zodiac and the second largest of the constellations. As Virgo is most often represented as a young woman holding an ear of corn, "the spike" refers to the shape of the corn, and Spica is often mistranslated as "The Ear" or "The Ear of Corn." In ancient China Spica was known as "The Horn of the Blue Dragon."
Spica forms one of
the four stars (along with Cor Caroli, Arcturus, and Denebola) of the
asterism of The Great Diamond, and of the Spring Triangle of Spica,
Regulus, and Arcturus. Like Regulus in Leo, Spica lies close to the
ecliptic and is sometimes occulted by the Moon and the other planets.
Spica is one of the fifteen Behenian stars and astrologically it represents victory and the overcoming of obstacles. In ancient Egypt, the Temple of Menat, the goddess of young mothers, was oriented in relation to Spica, which has always been a "feminine" star, and was worshipped as a goddess by the Mesopotamian cultures.
Spica is a first magnitude star. Its primary is a blue giant and its secondary is a blue dwarf star. They lie 262 light years from Earth, and the primary burns at 40,000 degrees F., about four times the temperature of the Sun, the secondary at about 33,000 degrees. Likewise, the primary has about ten times the mass of the Sun, the secondary seven. The primary has seven times the radius of the Sun, the secondary four times the radius. Their combined luminosity is about 3300 times that of the Sun. Spica is a young star system, possibly only a few tens of millions of years old.
This 33rd star in the Nautical Almanac is also known as Alpha Virginis, Spica Virginis ("The Virgin's Spike"), or in old texts Arista or Azimech, both meaning "The Undefended" or "The Defenseless." It is the brightest star in the constellation Virginis, more commonly known as Virgo The Virgin, which is the sixth sign of the Zodiac and the second largest of the constellations. As Virgo is most often represented as a young woman holding an ear of corn, "the spike" refers to the shape of the corn, and Spica is often mistranslated as "The Ear" or "The Ear of Corn." In ancient China Spica was known as "The Horn of the Blue Dragon."
Spica is one of the fifteen Behenian stars and astrologically it represents victory and the overcoming of obstacles. In ancient Egypt, the Temple of Menat, the goddess of young mothers, was oriented in relation to Spica, which has always been a "feminine" star, and was worshipped as a goddess by the Mesopotamian cultures.
Spica is a first magnitude star. Its primary is a blue giant and its secondary is a blue dwarf star. They lie 262 light years from Earth, and the primary burns at 40,000 degrees F., about four times the temperature of the Sun, the secondary at about 33,000 degrees. Likewise, the primary has about ten times the mass of the Sun, the secondary seven. The primary has seven times the radius of the Sun, the secondary four times the radius. Their combined luminosity is about 3300 times that of the Sun. Spica is a young star system, possibly only a few tens of millions of years old.
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