Stars · Blue giant (binary)

Spica

250 light-years · Light crosses it in 35 seconds

Across

10.4 million km

Vs Earth

7.47× Sun

Mass

11 Suns

Open Spica in Cosmic Scale

About

Spica, the brightest star in Virgo, is really two hot blue stars orbiting each other every four days, so close that each is pulled into an egg shape by the other.

Two hot stars so close that each is pulled into an egg shape by the other.

At a glance

Distance	250 light-years
Mass	About 11 Suns (main star)
Orbit	4 days
Brightness	About 20,000 Suns

Did you know

1. Hipparchus used it to discover the slow wobble of Earth's axis, around 130 BC.
2. The larger star may one day explode as a supernova.
3. It is one of the 20 brightest stars in the night sky.