Spica is the brightest star in Virgo and a scorching-hot pair of stars, whirling very closely around one another. One of them may go supernova someday.
Winter is the perfect time for noticing the colors of the stars. Start with Capella, then move on to Taurus and Orion. Check out some colorful stars tonight!
Larry Sessions has written many favorite posts in EarthSky's Tonight area. He's a former planetarium director in Little Rock, Fort Worth and Denver and an adjunct faculty member at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He's a longtime member of NASA's Solar System Ambassadors program. His articles have appeared in numerous publications including Space.com, Sky & Telescope, Astronomy and Rolling Stone. His small book on world star lore, Constellations, was published by Running Press.