Once again the moon is our guide this week, passing within about 1.5° of Spica, the brightest star in Virgo, the virgin. The full circle of the moon presents an angular diameter of about 0.5°, so it will approach Spica to about six lunar widths.
The chart shows the view looking south-east from London at 23.00 GMT on 28 February, shortly after the pair have risen. Having passed full moon, the waning moon will now rise later and later, with less and less of its visible surface illuminated. On 28 February, 83% of its Earth-facing hemisphere will be illuminated. By next week, it will be a thin crescent rising in the morning sky before the sun.
Spica is the 16th-brightest star in the night sky. It is a blue giant star pumping out almost 21,000 times the light of the sun. Its name derives from Latin and means the virgin’s ear of grain. It has several Arabic names, of which Sunbulah also means ear of grain, but Alarph means gatherer of grapes, and Azimech defies easy translation. To the Chinese, Spica is within the Horn mansion, which forms part of the Azure Dragon.
From the southern hemisphere, Virgo rises in the late evening at this time of year.
