[Tex/LaTex] minipage across two columns

Question

I am trying to align a graph and its corresponding equations in a \twocolumn environment. The minipage part works as expected when we have one column text. However, when we have it in the twocolumn context they appear one below the other. How can I get it all into one row spanning both columns?

If it was just the figure I would have done \begin{figure*}. Is there something similar for minipage?

\documentclass[twoside]{article}
\begin{document}
\twocolumn[]

\begin{minipage}{.35\textwidth}
\includegraphics[height=2.5in]{graph}
\end{minipage} \quad
\begin{minipage}{.6\textwidth}
\begin{align}
&\alpha \sim  \, \text{Ga}(a,b)\\
& v_i|\alpha \sim \, \text{Be}(1,\alpha)
\end{align}
\end{minipage}

\end{document}

Answer 1

You can just put the minipages into a figure*:

\documentclass[twoside,twocolumn]{article}
\usepackage{graphicx,mathtools,kantlipsum}
\begin{document}
\begin{figure*}
  \begin{minipage}{.35\textwidth}
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{example-image-a}
  \end{minipage} \quad
  \begin{minipage}{.6\textwidth}
    \begin{align}
      &\alpha \sim  \, \text{Ga}(a,b)\\
      & v_i|\alpha \sim \, \text{Be}(1,\alpha)
    \end{align}
  \end{minipage}
\end{figure*}
\kant[1-20]
\end{document}