Spica (HIP 65474)
Spica is a blue subgiant star in the constellation Virgo. At 249 light years away, it is the 15th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 0.98. Spica is the primary component of a multiple-star system and an intrinsic variable star that varies between magntitudes 0.87 and 0.91 over a period of 4.01 days. The iron abundance of Spica is -0.01 (97.7% of the Sun). It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 18.9 km/s relative to the Sun. Its projected Galactic orbit carries it between 22,500 and 24,400 light years from the center of the Galaxy.
Sky position: RA 13h 25.2m, Dec -11° 9.6'
