Zavijava — 처녀의 항성

Zavijava, Beta Virginis, is an F9V subgiant only 35.7 light-years from Earth — another very nearby solar-type star. At 1.4 Suns' mass and 3.5 Suns' luminosity, it is slightly older and more evolved than the Sun but very similar in spectrum. It shines at magnitude 3.61 and sits just below the celestial equator at the western edge of Virgo. Zavijava has been a favorite "solar analog" star for stellar astrophysics for over a century.

Zavijava marks the western end of Virgo, just east of the Lion's tail. It is an easy naked-eye star and a lovely pale-yellow point in any small telescope. Zavijava is near the ecliptic, so the Moon and planets pass close by regularly; spectacular occultations by the Moon happen several times per year. Best observed January through August.

The traditional name Zavijava derives from the Arabic "al-zāwiyat al-'awwā'," meaning "the corner of the barker," a reference to dogs in pre-Islamic astronomy. The spectrum was famously photographed by Erwin Finlay-Freundlich at Cambridge during the 1922 total solar eclipse expedition to compare Zavijava's starlight deflection against the Sun's gravitational field — a successful confirmation of Einstein's general relativity.