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Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear, is a constellation in the northern sky, whose associated mythology likely dates back into prehistory.Its Latin name means "greater (or larger) bear", referring to and contrasting it with nearby Ursa Minor, the lesser bear. [1]
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.
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.
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.
Ursa Minor (Small Bear), contains the Little Dipper Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Ursa constellation .
This glossary of astronomy is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to astronomy and cosmology, their sub-disciplines, and related fields. Astronomy is concerned with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth. The field of astronomy features an extensive vocabulary and a ...
Bear taxon names such as Arctoidea and Helarctos come from the ancient Greek ἄρκτος (arktos), meaning bear, [7] as do the names "arctic" and "antarctic", via the name of the constellation Ursa Major, the "Great Bear", prominent in the northern sky. [8] Bear taxon names such as Ursidae and Ursus come from Latin Ursus/Ursa, he-bear/she ...
Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor.It is designated α Ursae Minoris (Latinized to Alpha Ursae Minoris) and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star.