{"release":{"id":"DR1","released_on":"2026-08-21","doi":null,"url":"https://spacecatalog.org/releases#dr1"},"epoch":{"requested":"now","label":"J2026.654","julian_year":2026.654,"time":"2026-08-27T17:41:58.647Z","years_from_j2000":26.654,"frame":"icrs","applied":"Proper motion only. The catalogued J2000 position is carried along the great circle the object's own published motion puts it on, at a constant velocity. The frame is ICRS at both ends — this is a position epoch and not an equinox, and the grid is not turned. Ask for frame=date to have it turned as well.","excluded":"Parallax, the radial-velocity perspective term, aberration and refraction; each is below the accuracy of the catalogued positions themselves. An object with no published proper motion comes back where the catalogue has it rather than at a fabricated zero, and says so with a null pm_ra_mas_yr. A body with no fixed position is not propagated at all — its place comes from an ephemeris, which is what /api/v1/visible answers with."},"slug":"spica","name":"Spica","class":"b1v_blue_white_main_sequence_star","category":"star","object_type":"B1V blue-white main-sequence star","mag":0.98,"mag_band":"V","abs_mag":-3.44,"abs_mag_band":"V","distance_ly":249.73695994857727,"distance_method":"parallax","ra_deg":201.298245,"dec_deg":-11.161322,"epoch_ra_deg":201.297924,"epoch_dec_deg":-11.161557,"epoch_moved_arcsec":1.414,"pm_ra_mas_yr":-42.5,"pm_dec_mas_yr":-31.73,"orbits":null,"semi_major_axis_km":null,"periapsis_km":null,"mass_kg":null,"mass_msun":null,"constellation":"Virgo","discovered":"Antiquity","featured":true,"url":"https://spacecatalog.org/object/spica","radius_km":null,"radius_kind":null,"data_quality":null,"description":"Two blue stars orbiting so closely that they distort each other into eggs and complete a circuit every four days.","properties":{"wds_id":"13252-1110","companions":[{"measured":1975,"magnitude":7.5,"components":"Aa,Ac","discoverer_code":"OCC 418","separation_arcsec":0.5,"position_angle_deg":-1},{"measured":2010,"magnitude":12,"components":"AB","discoverer_code":"BUP 150","separation_arcsec":151.9,"position_angle_deg":33},{"measured":2010,"magnitude":10.5,"components":"AC","discoverer_code":"BUP 150","separation_arcsec":367.3,"position_angle_deg":61}],"wikidata_id":"Q13008","also_known_as":["Alpha Virginis","Azimech","alf Vir","α Vir","α Virginis"],"spectral_type":"B1V","color_index_bv":-0.235,"luminosity_solar":2070.1413487910413,"variability_type":"ELL+BCEP","variable_mag_max":0.961,"variable_mag_min":1.001,"variability_class":"Ellipsoidal rotating variable","wikipedia_article":"Spica","variable_epoch_hjd":2419530.49,"radial_velocity_km_s":1,"spectral_type_source":"SIMBAD (1953ApJ...117..313J, quality C)","variable_designation":"Alp Vir","variable_period_days":4.014604,"proper_motion_ra_mas_yr":-42.5,"proper_motion_dec_mas_yr":-31.73},"designations":[{"catalog":"Bayer/Flamsteed","designation":"67 Alpha Vir"},{"catalog":"Common name","designation":"Spica"},{"catalog":"HD","designation":"HD 116658"},{"catalog":"HIP","designation":"HIP 65474"},{"catalog":"HR","designation":"HR 5056"},{"catalog":"IRAS","designation":"IRAS 13225-1054"}],"source":{"id":"hyg","name":"HYG Database v4.1","url":"https://github.com/astronexus/HYG-Database","license":"CC-BY-SA-4.0"},"updated_at":"2026-08-27T16:03:54.983Z","variability":{"type":"ELL+BCEP","class":"Ellipsoidal rotating variable","period_days":4.014604,"epoch_hjd":2419530.49,"epoch_marks":"minimum","mag_brightest":0.961,"mag_faintest":1.001,"phase":{"at":"2026-08-27T17:41:58.647Z","at_hjd":2461280.233716,"event":"minimum","value":0.4675,"uncertainty":0.0018,"uncertainty_days":0.007214,"cycles_since_epoch":10399.467,"next":["2026-08-29T21:00:45.332Z","2026-09-02T21:22:11.215Z"],"unavailable":null,"applied":"The whole cycles between the published epoch and the instant asked for, counted at the published period. Both are on the same heliocentric scale: the instant is corrected for where the Earth was in its orbit, which is worth up to 8.3 minutes and is the difference between an eclipse timed in January and one timed in July.","excluded":"Any change in the period since it was measured. The uncertainty here is the published precision of the period carried through the cycles since the epoch, plus that of the epoch itself; it is not an error bar the upstream catalogue published, and where that catalogue has flagged a period as doubtful the true figure is larger. Nothing at all is claimed for classes whose period is a mean cycle time — a dwarf nova, an irregular or a semiregular variable gets elements and no phase, and says so."}},"attribution":"Data from SpaceCatalog.org. Individual records carry their source and license in `source`; attribution is required for CC-BY and CC-BY-SA rows."}