Virgo♍

How to find it

Find the Big Dipper. Follow the curve of the handle away from the bowl, making an arc across the sky. The first bright star you find is Arcturus, located in Boötes the Herdsman. Keep following that arc for twice the distance, and you'll find another bright star. That is Spica, in Virgo.

What it looks like

The overall shape of Virgo is really just a stick figure laying down. Like, to the left are two legs, the three brightest stars are in the middle making the chest and hands, and then there's a couple extra stars on the right to make up the head (and angel wings, apparently). However, finding all these stars is a bit hard. Starting out with Spica is easy, but then you have to find 2 dimmer stars in a loose obtuse triangle. Then from there, the remaining stars are barely visible. But trust me, once you find them all, it's the best stick figure in the entire sky.

Story

Unsurprisingly, most of the stories about Virgo revolve around virginity. Virginity could have the literal meaning, but in the olden days, virginity was considered very close to justice. Something about the untouched innocence of a virgin makes their judgement clearer than the rest of us coated in sin.

The Greeks said that Virgo represents the deity Astraea, who in turn is the concept of purity come to life. They said that in the beginning, humans were essentially like gods: they lived forever, and the world bent to their whims. But, as time went on, the human condition got worse and worse, and humans fell into a vicious cycle where as their morals abandoned them, they plunged themselves into more war and disease, in which they lost more morals. Astraea stayed as long as she could, but in the end, she was the very last god left on Earth. She then flew up to the heavens, to join her pair, Dike. This is why the virgin and the scales of justice are neighbors in the zodiac.

Besides innocence, Virgo is also associated with fertility, especially the harvest. This association comes from the fact that Spica, the brightest star of Virgo, signals the time to harvest crops, since it almost exactly lines up with the fall equinox. Thus, Spica literally means "ear of wheat." Not only that, but Virgo's other hand, Vindemiatrix means "the grape harvestress," and signals the time to harvest grapes.

The Christians say that Virgo is of course, the Virgin Mary.

Other Stuff

Virgo is the second largest official constellation, after Hydra. If you consider Argo to be one large constellation, then Virgo is the third largest.

Porrima is the second brightest star in Virgo, located in her chest.

Virgo is the best constellation, because I'm a Virgo!

Source: link