The moon visits one of the spring constellations this week by traveling through the faint constellation of Virgo, the virgin. On 1 and 2 June, our natural satellite will pass close to Virgo’s only bright star, Spica. Memorise its position and then return in the days to come to pick out the constellation’s other, fainter stars.
Spica is one of the 20 brightest stars in the night sky, located at a distance of about 250 light years. A blue giant star, containing around 10 times the Sun’s mass, it is more than 20,000 times more luminous than our star.
The chart shows the view looking south from London at midnight as 1 June becomes 2 June but any time earlier that evening will present a good view. The moon will be bright and close to full, with just over 80% of its surface illuminated.
From the southern hemisphere, the moon will be closest to Spica on 2 June. The view is easily seen by looking east during that evening.
