![]() ![]() They imagined the three handle stars as a family chasing the bear, with the father leading the charge, followed by Mom with a frying pan and one of the kids tagging along in the rear. In Germany, those stars were called “Charles’s Wagon” in Ireland, “King David’s Chariot” and in ancient Egypt, “The leg of the Bull.” Several Native American tribes pictured the bowl of the Big Dipper as a giant bear. In Britain, the Big Dipper is known as the Plough. Just as the official constellations have mythology and lore associated with them, so does the Big Dipper. ![]() The rest of the stars that make up the head and legs of the Big Bear aren’t nearly as bright, but can be spotted relatively easily this time of year, even in areas of moderate light pollution. How that tail got stretched out is a story for another day. The three handle stars outline the bear’s stretched-out tail. The four stars that outline the pot section of the Big Dipper also outline the bear’s derriere. The Big Dipper does make up the rear end and the tail of the official constellation Ursa Major, otherwise known as the Big Bear. There are eighty-eight “official” constellations that can be seen from Earth that were agreed on internationally in 1930. It’s what astronomers refer to as an asterism, defined as an easily recognized pattern of stars in the sky. The only problem is that the Big Dipper is not a constellation. Most of them can point out two or three, and just about everyone can locate the Big Dipper. I always ask folks at my stargazing programs how many constellations they can find in the sky. According to old-time lore, the overturned Dipper is one of the reasons we get so much rain this time of year. If you’re facing north it looks like the Big Dipper is dumping out on you! That and some tender loving care will keep lawns green, gardens growing, and farm fields productive, along with helping maintain weeds, dandelions, and mosquitoes. G.Now that we’re well into spring, you can easily see the Big Dipper at the start of the evening, suspended upside down, high above the northern horizon. System, consisting mostly of old stars, that is one of the small satellite The Ursa Minor Dwarf is a dwarf spheroidal or elliptical Seeing NGC 3172 is aĬhallenge for an observer with a 12-inch telescope. – it received the name Polarissima Borealis. ![]() Of its proximity – less than 1 degree from that most northerly declination Polarissima Borealis (NGC 3172) is a spiral galaxy in theĬonstellation Ursa Minor, which is the closest NGC object to the North Celestial Pole (Fig 3). See below for details of the constellation's brightest Like a miniature and much fainter version of the well-known Big Tail and the Dipper's bowl is the Bear's flank. The handle of the Dipper is the Little Bear's The Little Dipper is an asterism formed by the seven brightest stars of Ursa Minor, the most conspicuous of which are the North Star and the two front bowl stars, Kochab (Beta) and Pherkad (Gamma). Ursa Minor has traditionally been important for navigation, particularly by mariners, because of Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris) being the North Star. When Arcas nearly killed his mother as he didn't know who she was, Zeus turned Arcas into a smaller bear – Ursa Minor. In a fit of rage, his wife Hera turned Callisto into a bear, immortalised in the stars as Ursa Major. ![]() In Greek mythology, Zeus had a son (Arcas) with Callisto, a mortal. The stars Beta Ursae Minoris (Kochab) and Gamma UMi (Pherkad) are often called the Its seven brightest stars form the asterism known as the Lttle Dipper. Pole that is almost completely surrounded by Draco. Is a constellation near the north celestial Ursa Minor (abbreviation: UMi), the Little Bear, ![]()
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