Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The Big Dipper seen from Fujian. The constellation of Ursa Major (Latin: Greater Bear) has been seen as a bear, a wagon, or a ladle.The "bear" tradition is Indo-European (appearing in Greek, as well as in Vedic India), [7] but apparently the name "bear" has parallels in Siberian or North American traditions.
The outline of the seven bright stars of Ursa Major form the asterism known as the "Big Dipper" in the United States and Canada, while in the United Kingdom it is called the Plough [6] or (historically) Charles' Wain. [7] Six of the seven stars are of second magnitude or higher, and it forms one of the best-known patterns in the sky.
In the Babylonian star catalogues, Triangulum, together with Gamma Andromedae, formed the constellation known as MUL APIN (𒀯𒀳) "The Plough". It is notable as the first constellation presented on (and giving its name to) a pair of tablets containing canonical star lists that were compiled around 1000 BC, the MUL.APIN .
For a few mornings starting from 7 September, go outside at 4 am and look to the north-east to spot the Plough and – to the right – the twin stars Castor and Pollux.
Constellations are based on asterisms, but unlike asterisms, constellations outline and today completely divide the sky and all its celestial objects into regions around their central asterisms. [1] [2] For example, the asterism known as the Big Dipper or the Plough comprises the seven brightest stars in the constellation Ursa Major.
It is more familiar to northern hemisphere observers as one of the "pointer stars" in the Big Dipper, or the Plough (UK), which is a prominent asterism of seven stars that forms part of the larger constellation. Extending an imaginary straight line from this star through the nearby Alpha Ursae Majoris (Dubhe) extends to Polaris, the north star.
Mizar's star is not a double star, but a four-star binary system located in the constellation Ursa Major (also known as the Big Dipper). This system consists of two pairs of double stars that are gravitationally bound to each other. Mizar is the second star from the end of the Big Dipper's handle, and Alcor its fainter companion. The ...
Ursa Minor (Latin for 'Lesser Bear', contrasting with Ursa Major), also known as the Little Bear, is a constellation located in the far northern sky.As with the Great Bear, the tail of the Little Bear may also be seen as the handle of a ladle, hence the North American name, Little Dipper: seven stars with four in its bowl like its partner the Big Dipper.