{"id":43508,"date":"2023-03-28T13:11:50","date_gmt":"2023-03-28T13:11:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=117489"},"modified":"2023-03-28T13:32:30","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T13:32:30","slug":"a-guide-to-star-vindemiatrix-the-lip-of-the-bowl-of-virgo","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/a-guide-to-star-vindemiatrix-the-lip-of-the-bowl-of-virgo\/","title":{"rendered":"A guide to star Vindemiatrix, the lip of the Bowl of Virgo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vindemiatrix leads the five stars of the Bowl of Virgo, a large semi-circular asterism visible in spring. <\/p>

By Pete Lawrence\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 28 March 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Vindemiatrix is the third-brightest star in Virgo, shining at mag. +2.8.<\/span><\/p>\n

Located 110 lightyears away, it marks the eastern lip of the large semi-circular pattern known as the \u2018Bowl of Virgo<\/a>\u2019, which is visible in spring.<\/span><\/p>\n

Measuring 20\u00b0 across, the bowl is formed from Vindemiatrix, <\/span>Auva, Porrima<\/a>, Zaniah and Zavijava, Epsilon (<\/span>\u03b5<\/span>), Delta (<\/span>\u03b4<\/span>), Gamma (<\/span>\u03b3<\/span>), Eta (<\/span>\u03b7<\/span>) and Beta (<\/span>\u03b2<\/span>) Virginis respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bowl stars are collectively part of Al \u2018Aww\u0101\u2019, which is Arabic for \u2018the Barker\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

The name Vindemiatrix originates from the Greek term for \u2018the grape gatherer\u2019, somewhat corrupted in its Latinised form to mean \u2018the grape harvestress\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

First morning visibility was a sign it was time to pick the grapes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"""\"

The strong X-ray output is presumably due to its strong magnetic field<\/a> affecting the star\u2019s surface.<\/span><\/p>\n

The star\u2019s spectrum has been used as a reference for the classification of other stars since 1948.<\/span><\/p>\n

Estimated to be around 560 million years old, Vindemiatrix is thought to have started life as a white B-class star and to now have a core that\u2019s in the process of switching from hydrogen to helium fusion.<\/span><\/p>\n

It rotates fairly slowly at 2.3km per second, taking 173 days to complete one rotation.<\/span><\/p>\n

This guide originally appeared in the April 2023 issue of <\/strong><\/em>BBC Sky at Night Magazine<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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