Program: GS-2017A-Q-96

With this pathfinder poor weather program we propose to obtain GMOS Halpha images of the circumstellar environment of Spica, a bright nearby star. Observations carried out with the Australia Telescope Compact Array show that the strong radio source PKS B1322-110 experiences rapid changes in its radio brightness, known as intraday variability (IDV). PKS B1322-110 is located, in projection, a few arcseconds away from Spica. We thus postulate that the rapid changes in radio brightness towards PKS B1322-110 is due to the presence of warm ionized gas ejected from Spica. This program aims at constraining the optical characteristics of this circumstellar material, thus far largely unknown.