Spica (Alpha Virginis) is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo, and one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky. An easy way to find Spica is to follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to Arcturus, and then continue on the same distance to Spica ("follow the arc to Arcturus and speed on to Spica"). Spica lies about 10° south of the celestial equator and practically on the ecliptic, so that it is regularly occulted by the Moon. The Sun passes Spica in the fall, rendering the star a harvest symbol that is reflected in its name, from the Latin meaning “ear of wheat.”

In Star Trek, it is the source of the Spican flame gem, a low value gemstone. In 2268, Cyrano Jones failed in an attempt to sell flame gems, along with Antarean glow water, to a bartender on Deep Space K-7. (TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles", DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations"). Jones would later attempt to sell some of the same flame gems to Captain Kirk in 2269 with similar results. (TAS: "More Tribbles, More Troubles")

In reality, Spica actually consists of two B stars, so close together that they orbit each other with a period of only 4.014 days. The brighter component, with a mass of 10.9 solar masses, is a Beta Cephei star that seems to be near the point of exhausting the supply of hydrogen in its core. Both components are blue, with temperatures of approximately 20,000 K. Strong X-ray emission has been recorded, at least some of which seems to be produced when the winds that flow from the brilliant pair violently collide together. Additional evidence suggests that Spica may in fact be a multiple star system, containing two other fainter components.