The crescent moon appears near the bright star Spica tomorrow night. The two are low in the southwestern sky soon after sunset. The moon is right above the star.
Spica is the brightest star in the zodiacal constellation Virgo. It is the 17th brightest star in the sky.

Spica has a distinct bluish tint and is defined as a binary star, made up of two stars so close together that astronomers have a hard time separating the two. The two stars are only 11 million miles apart. Note that the Earth is 93 million miles from the Sun.

Its distance is 261 light years away, which means it is remarkably bright for its distance. Judging by the many other stars we see in the night sky, by its distance Spica is so luminous. If Spica were our sun we’d be toast.

In the coming week the crescent moon moves through the zodiacal constellation Libra and into the southern most zodiacal constellation Scorpius.20.