Big Dipper(lat. Ursa Major) is a constellation in the northern hemisphere of the sky. The seven stars of Ursa Major form a shape resembling a ladle with a handle. The two brightest stars, Alioth and Dubhe, have a magnitude of 1.8 apparent magnitude. By the two extreme stars of this figure (α and β) you can find the North Star. Best conditions visibility - in March - April. Visible throughout Russia all year round(except for the autumn months in southern Russia, when Ursa Major descends low to the horizon).
Short description
| Big Dipper | |
| Lat. Name | Ursa Major (genus Ursae Majoris) |
| Reduction | UMa |
| Symbol | Big Dipper |
| Right ascension | from 7 h 58 m to 14 h 25 m |
| Declension | from +29° to +73° 30’ |
| Square | 1280 sq. degrees (3rd place) |
| Brightest stars (value< 3 m) |
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| Meteor showers |
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| Neighboring constellations |
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| The constellation is visible at latitudes from +90° to -16°. Best time for observation - March. |
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Detailed description
The constellation Ursa Major is located in the northern hemisphere starry sky . People have known it for many thousands of years. He was known to astronomers in Egypt, Babylon, China and Ancient Greece. It was included by Claudius Ptolemy in his monograph “Almagest” back in the 2nd century. And this work united all the knowledge on astronomy for that period of time.
The Big Dipper is formed by the following seven stars:
- Dubhe (Alpha Ursa Major), the name comes from the Arabic expression - “back of the big bear.”
- Merak (β) – from Arabic “loin” or “groin”.
- Fekda (γ) – “thigh”.
- Megrets (δ) – “base of the tail.” It is the faintest star among the stars of the Big Dipper.
- Aliot (ε) – “fat tail”. The brightest star in this constellation.
- Mizar (ζ) – from Arabic – “belt”. Near Mizar there is another star - Alcor. It is noteworthy that the ability to distinguish between these two stars is a consequence of good vision (with myopia of no more than 1 diopter).
- Benetnash (η) or otherwise – Alkaid. The third brightest star in Ursa Major. “Al-Qaeda banat ours” is translated from Arabic as “leader of the mourners.”
As you can see, this formation includes 7 stars. If you connect them with a straight line, you get a figure that resembles a ladle with a handle. Each star has its own name. At the top point of the bucket, opposite the handle, there is a star, which is called Dubhe. It is the second brightest among its cosmic counterparts. This is a multiple star. That is, several stars from Earth are seen as one due to their close distance to each other.
In this case we are dealing with 3 stars. The largest of them is a red giant. That is, the core has already lost all its hydrogen reserves, and a thermonuclear reaction is taking place on the surface of the star. It dies, and over time should turn into a white dwarf or become black hole. The other two stars are Main Sequence stars, that is, the same as our Sun.
On the same straight line with Dubhe, at the base of the bucket, there is a star Merak. This is a very bright light. It is 69 times brighter than our Sun, but due to the vastness of outer space it does not make the proper impression. If the straight line between Merak and Dubhe is extended towards the constellation Ursa Minor, then you can run into the North Star. It is located at a distance that is 5 times the distance between the indicated luminaries.
The other lowest point of the bucket is called Fekda. This is a Main Sequence star. The top point of the bucket located opposite it is called Megrets. She is the dimmest in the friendly company. This star is almost 1.5 times larger than our star and 14 times brighter.
There is a star at the beginning of the handle Aliot. It is the brightest in the constellation Ursa Major. Among all the visible stars in the sky, it ranks 33rd in brightness. From the end of the handle it is the third in a row, and the second is a star Mizar. Next to it there is another luminary, which is called Alcor. Anyone with good eyesight can see it. They say that in ancient times, Alcor was used to test the visual acuity of young men who aspired to become sailors. If a young man could see this star next to Mizar, then he was enrolled as a sailor.
In reality, not 2 stars shine in the cosmic distance, but as many as 6. These are the double stars Mizar A and Mizar B, as well as the double star Alcor. But from Earth, with the naked eye, only a large bright point and a small one that is nearby are visible. These are the kind of surprises that space sometimes brings.
And finally, the outermost star. It is called Benetnash or Alkaid. All these names are taken from Arabic. In this case, the literal translation means “leader of the mourners.” That is, the alkaid is the leader, and our banat is the mourners. This star is the third brightest after Aliot and Dubhe. It ranks 35th among the brightest stars in the sky.
The brightest stars of Ursa Major
| Star | α (2000) | δ (2000) | V | Sp. Class | Distance | Luminosity | Notes |
| Aliot | 12h 54min 01.7s | +55° 57′ 35″ | 1,76 | A0Vp | 81 | 108 | |
| Dubhe | 11 03 43,6 | +61 45 03 | 1,79 | K0IIIa | 124 | 235 | Triple. ΑΒ=0.7″ AC=378″ |
| Benetnash | 13 47 32,3 | +49 18 48 | 1,86 | B3V | 101 | 146 | |
| Mizar | 13 23 55,5 | +54 55 31 | 2,27 | A1Vp | 86 | 71 | 6 star system including Alcor A and B |
| Merak | 11 01 50,4 | +56 22 56 | 2,37 | A1V | 78 | 55 | |
| Fekda | 11 53 49,8 | +53 41 41 | 2,44 | A0Ve | 84 | 59 | |
| ψ UMa | 11 09 39,7 | +44 29 54 | 3,01 | K1III | 147 | 108 | |
| μUMa | 10 22 19,7 | +41 29 58 | 3,05 | M0III | 249 | 296 | sp. double? |
| ιUMa | 08 59 12,4 | +48 02 30 | 3,14 | A7IV | 48 | 10 | sp. double and wholesale double |
| θ UMa | 09 32 51,3 | +51 40 38 | 3,18 | F6IV | 44 | 8 |
Other objects of Ursa Major
In addition to the Big Dipper, in the constellation Ursa Major you can also see an asterism called the Three Leaps of the Gazelle, which looks like three pairs of stars.
We are talking about the following pairs:
- Alula North South (ν and ξ),
- Taniya North and South (λ and μ),
- Talitha North and South (ι and κ).
Near Alupa North there is a red dwarf called Lalande 21185, which is elusive to observation with the naked eye. However, it is the sixth closest star system to the Sun. Closer to the stars Sirius A and B.
Observational astronomers are well aware that this constellation contains the galaxy M101 (called Pinwheel), as well as the galaxies M81 and M82. The last two form the core of what is probably the closest group of galaxies, located at a distance of about 7 million light years. In contrast to these distant objects, the astronomical body M 97 (“Owl”) is located within the Milky Way, hundreds of times closer. The Owl is one of the largest planetary nebulae.
In the middle, between the first and second “gazelle jump”, using optics you can see a small yellow dwarf similar to our Sun number 47. From 2000 to 2010, scientists discovered three exoplanets, gas giants, orbiting around it. This star system is also one of the most similar to the Solar System and ranks 72nd on the list of candidates for the search for Earth-like planets carried out as part of the planned NASA Terrestrial Planet Finder mission. So for an astronomy lover, the constellation is of great interest.
In 2013 and 2016, two of the most distant galaxies from us were discovered in the constellation, z8 GND 5296 and GN-z11, respectively. The light from these galaxies, recorded by scientists, lasted 13.02 (z8 GND 5296) and 13.4 (GN-z11) billion years.
This is how we can characterize the constellation Ursa Major, known since ancient times. This cosmic region also includes many galaxies. For example, the Pinwheel galaxy. It is better known as M 101. In size it exceeds the Milky Way. Its detailed photographs were taken by the Hubble telescope at the beginning of the 21st century. To get to this huge cluster of stars, you need to spend 8 million light years.
The Owl Nebula is also of interest. It enters our galaxy and looks like two dark spots located nearby. In 1848, Lord Ross believed that these spots were similar to the eyes of an owl. This is where the name came from. This nebula is approximately 6 thousand years old, and it is located at a distance of 2300 light years from the Solar system.
But the most interesting thing is that the constellation Ursa Major is considered as one of the likely sources of extraterrestrial intelligence. In this part of space there is a certain star called 47UMa. It is a yellow dwarf, and its planetary system is very similar to ours. solar system. At least, today there are 3 known planets orbiting this star. In 2003, a radio message was sent to him. Earthlings persistently search for brothers in mind, and luck always accompanies those who persist.
How to find the Big Dipper in the sky?
If you want to learn how to navigate the starry sky, then your primary task is to be able to find the Big Dipper bucket. Although it is not far from the North Star, it is still not so close to it as to be at one point in the sky all the time.
The Big Dipper is easiest to spot in the fall and winter. At this time, in the evenings, the asterism is located in the north, low above the horizon and in our usual position.
Towards the end of winter, the position of Ursa Major in the evening sky changes. The seven stars of the bucket shift to the east, and the Big Dipper itself stands vertically on the handle.
There is nothing surprising. Let us remember that every day all the stars describe circles around the celestial pole, thereby reflecting the rotation of the Earth around its axis. But over the course of a year, the stars make one more additional circle, thereby reflecting the movement of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun. The stars of Ursa Major are no exception - moving from the lowest point, the bucket seems to rear up.
In mid-spring, Ursa Major is at its zenith in the evenings, right above your head! At this time, it is in an inverted position in relation to the North Star. Its ladle faces west, and its handle faces east.
For those who live north of Moscow, the most difficult time to find the Big Dipper in the sky is in the summer, during the period of short nights. At this time, the constellation is in the west, and the bucket is tilted down and looking north.
How to find the North Star using Ursa Major?
Now let's see how to find the North Star using Ursa Major. This is done simply. Take the two outermost stars in the bucket, Dubha and Merak (alpha and beta Ursa Major), and mentally connect them with a line. And then extend this line five times the distance Merak - Dubhe.
You will see a star whose brilliance is approximately equal to the brilliance of the stars of the bucket. This is the famous Polar Star, the “iron nail,” as the Kazakhs called it, meaning the immobility of the Polar Star in the earth’s firmament.
Knowing the position of the North Star, you can easily navigate in space. Draw a plumb line from Polyarnaya down. The place where it intersects with the horizon will point north. The rest of the cardinal directions are easy to find: east will be on the right, south behind you, and west on the left. So, guided by the stars, in Russia in the Middle Ages they built the Moscow-Yaroslavl and Moscow-Vladimir roads, straight as an arrow.
Secrets of the constellation Ursa Major: how different peoples saw it
Egypt "Bull's Thigh"
The ancient Egyptians were among the first astronomers in history, with some of their round stone "observatories" dating back as far as the fifth millennium BC. It was the Egyptians who laid the foundations of the constellation system that was borrowed from them by the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, the Greeks, the Arabs, and then by modern science. At that dizzyingly distant time, due to the precession of the earth's axis, it was not the North Star that pointed north, but Alpha Draconis (Thuban). Its surroundings, together with the nearest luminaries, were considered by the Egyptians to be the “fixed sky,” the habitat of the gods. Instead of a ladle, the priests could see the leg of Set, the god of war and death, who turned into a bull and killed Osiris with a blow of his hoof. Falcon-headed Horus cut off his limb in revenge for the murder of his father.
China "Emperor Shangdi's Cart"
Astronomers Ancient China divided the sky into 28 vertical sectors, “houses,” through which the Moon passes on its monthly journey, just as the Sun passes through the signs of the Zodiac in its annual rotation in Western astrology, which borrowed the 12-sector division from the Egyptians. In the center of the heavens, like an emperor in the capital of a state, the Chinese placed the North Star, which by that time had already taken its usual place. The seven brightest stars of the Big Dipper are located in honorable proximity to it, within the Purple Fence - one of the three Fences surrounding the palace of the “royal” star. They could be described as the Northern Dipper, whose orientation corresponds to the seasons, or as part of the carriage of the Shangdi Heavenly Emperor.
India "Seven Wise Men"
Observational astronomy in ancient india did not develop as brilliantly as, say, mathematics. Its ideas were greatly influenced by both Greece and China - for example, the 27-28 “stays” (nakshatras) through which the Moon passes in about a month are very reminiscent of the Chinese lunar “houses”. The Hindus also attached great importance The polar star, which, according to experts in the Vedas, is the abode of Vishnu himself. The Ladle asterism located underneath it was considered the Saptarishas - seven sages born from the mind of Brahma, the forefathers of the world of our era (Kali Yuga) and everyone living in it.
Greece "Bear"
Ursa Major is one of 48 constellations listed in Ptolemy's star catalog around 140 BC, although it was first mentioned much earlier, in Homer. The intricate Greek myths offer different backstories for its appearance, although everyone agrees that the bear is the beautiful Callisto, companion of the hunter goddess Artemis. According to one version, using his usual tricks with transformation, the loving Zeus seduced her, provoking the wrath of both his wife Hera and Artemis herself. Saving his mistress, the Thunderer turned her into a bear, who wandered in the mountain forests for many years until her own son, born of Zeus, met her while hunting. Supreme God I had to intervene again. Preventing matricide, he ascended both to heaven.
America "Great Bear"
It seems that the Indians understood something about wild animals: in the Iroquois legend about the origin of the asterism, the “heavenly bear” does not have any tail. The three stars that form the handle of the ladle are three hunters pursuing the beast: Aliot draws a bow with an arrow embedded in it, Mizar carries a cauldron for cooking meat (Alcor), and Benetnash carries an armful of brushwood to light the fire. In the fall, when the Bucket turns and sinks low to the horizon, blood from a wounded bear drips down, painting the trees in variegated colors.
- The closest bright star in Ursa Major– star South Alula or xi Ursa Major. This is a beautiful double star that can be separated into its components in a telescope with a lens greater than 80mm. Both components are similar in their characteristics to the Sun and each of them also has a satellite - a cool red dwarf! The distance to ξ Ursa Major is 29 sv. years. A little further away is the star θ - 44 light years from the Sun. Well, the farthest of the bright stars in the constellation is the red giant μ Ursa Major, one of the stars in the front “paw” of the Ursa Major. The distance to it is 249 light years.
- The constellation Ursa Major is featured on the Alaska flag. The flag of White Sea Karelia, which was approved on June 21, 1918, depicts the Big Dipper. Also, the flag with the image of the Big Dipper is used by Irish left-wing radical organizations.
- You can admire the Big Dipper during the day. This can easily be done by finding it on one of the interactive constellation maps. On the maps you can find other large and small constellations and look at them at close range.
- Need I say that the huge constellation Ursa Major is a real treasure trove for a true astronomy lover?! This part of the sky contains a huge number of attractions that can be observed with small telescopes: double and variable stars, several bright galaxies and dozens of fainter galaxies, an open star cluster and even a planetary nebula. There is no way to fit descriptions of these objects into one article. Therefore, we decided to publish separate articles devoted to observations of the sights of the Big Dipper.
Video
Sources
- https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bear https://biguniverse.ru/posts/sozvezdie-bolshaya-medveditsa/ http://spacegid.com/sozvezdie-bolshoy-medveditsyi.html
The constellation Ursa Major is one of the most famous constellations, located in the northern part of the sky. It is classified as circumpolar and is visible all year round in the northern hemisphere, although in autumn in the southern regions it can drop very low to the horizon. The Dipper's Dipper is easy to recognize and can usually be found easily by most people.
This constellation is located in the northern part of the sky and can be found at any time of the year. By winter it drops to the horizon, then begins to rise higher. During the night it manages to describe a large arc, thanks to the daily rotation of the Earth. It is best seen in spring.
Stars of the constellation Ursa Major
The constellation Ursa Major is much larger than many people think, and is not limited to just the well-known “bucket” of seven stars. In terms of area, it ranks 3rd among all constellations, after Hydra and Virgo. Up to 125 stars can be seen with the naked eye.
The stars that form the “bucket” of Ursa Major are the brightest in this constellation, but they also have a brightness of about 2 magnitude, except for delta - its brightness is 3.3m.
All the stars of the “bucket” have their own names - Dubhe, Merak, Fekda, Kaffa, Aliot, Mizar, and Benetnash. The most famous of them, perhaps, is Mizar - the middle star in the handle of the “bucket”. This star is a double star, and with excellent vision you can detect its companion, Alcor.
Stars of the constellation Ursa Major.
Merak and Dubhe are called Pointers - if you draw a line through them and continue it further, it will rest on the North Star. The constellations Ursa Minor and Ursa Major are located nearby, which greatly simplifies the task of finding the North Star.
All the stars in the “bucket” of Ursa Major, due to approximately the same brightness, seem equally distant from us. In fact, this is not true at all. Some of these stars are closer and some are much farther than others. That they form such a figure is simply a matter of chance. Due to the stars' own movement in space, the figure of this constellation changes greatly over time. In 10 thousand years, people will not see such a form in the sky at all, just as it did not exist 10 thousand years ago. However, 5 of these stars fly in the same direction and are similar in their characteristics, which allows us to think about their relationship in terms of a common origin. They are called the Ursa Major moving group of stars.
Ursa Major is a constellation that contains a lot of double and even multiple stars, but most of them are either too dim or too close to be observed with most amateur telescopes. There are also many variable stars here, but they are also quite dim and you will need a telescope or good binoculars to study them.
Mizar - sixfold system
Mizar is the middle star in the handle of the “bucket” of the Big Dipper. It is curious because it is a double star, one of the most famous and easiest to observe. The second component is named Alcor - it is a faint star with a magnitude of 4.02m, located at a distance of 12 arc minutes. Only people with excellent eyesight can see Alcor near Mizar with the naked eye, so this has long been considered a kind of eye test.
For a long time there was no evidence of a physical relationship between Mizar and Alcor, because in space the distance between them is a quarter of a light year, and the orbital motion of the stars is very slow. In 2009, such evidence was obtained, and now it is known that the Mizar-Alcor system is actually not even double, but sixfold!
Mizar itself is visible even in a small telescope as a double star - the distance between its components A and B is 15 arc seconds, and the stars have a magnitude of about 4m. However, each of these components is also a close double system! In total, Mizar is a four-fold star. Component A consists of a pair of hot white stars, each 3.5 times larger and 2.5 times more massive than the Sun. Component B stars are also white stars, but somewhat smaller—twice as large and 1.6 times as massive as the Sun.
Alcor is also not as simple as it seems. It is a binary system consisting of a hot white star twice as massive and larger than the Sun, and a red dwarf star four times as massive and three times smaller than the Sun.
In total, in the Mizar system we can see a curious set of five almost identical hot white stars and one red dwarf. Approximately the same interesting sixfold system is located in the Castor star.
Variable stars in Ursa Major
There are more than 2,800 variable stars known in this constellation, but most of them can only be seen with a powerful telescope. Three of them are quite interesting - W, R and VY of Ursa Major, and can be observed with binoculars or a telescope.
W Ursa Major
This is an eclipsing variable star, similar to the famous Algol, but here everything is much more extreme. Here, a pair of white stars, comparable in size and mass to the sun, are located so close to each other that they practically touch. Due to such a close arrangement, under the influence of the gravity of its neighbor, each star took on an elongated egg-shaped shape, and when orbiting around a common center of gravity, these stars always face each other with one, convex side. In this place they even exchange substance with each other.
As it rotates in orbit, one of the stars in this pair periodically covers (eclipses) the other, and the overall brightness of the system decreases. In addition, the stars are visible sometimes with a wide, elongated side, sometimes with a narrow side. Therefore, the brightness of W Ursa Major is constantly changing from 7.8 to 8.6m. The full period is only 8 hours - so quickly these stars rotate around each other. Therefore, the entire cycle can be observed in one night.
R Ursa Major
This is a variable star that belongs to the class of Miras. Its brightness varies over a very wide range - at its maximum brightness (6.7m) it can be seen with binoculars, and at its minimum (13.4m) you will need a fairly powerful telescope. The period of brightness fluctuations is about 300 days.
VY Ursa Major
Compared to the previous one, this is a fairly bright star - its brightness varies between 5.9 - 6.5m. So it can be easily observed with 8-10x binoculars. This is a semi-regular variable - it has a period of 180 days, but there are irregular fluctuations superimposed on it.
We recommend even just looking at this star, even if you are not going to observe changes in its brightness. The fact is that this is one of the carbon stars, that is, it is a giant with a lot of carbon in its atmosphere. Because of this, the star has a rich red color, which makes it stand out sharply against the background of ordinary stars.
There are a lot of other interesting objects, mainly galaxies, in the constellation Ursa Major. Some of them can be detected even with binoculars, but they will be discussed in.
To study the starry sky more productively, we recommend using.
Ursa Major is a constellation that schoolchildren become familiar with in 2nd grade while taking the course “The World Around us.”
It is important for children to learn how to find a star “bucket” in the night sky, because the constellation is a reference point for finding many other celestial objects.
Description of the constellation Ursa Major
Ursa Major (Ursa Major) is a constellation of the northern hemisphere, located in 3rd place in size. The common name for the celestial object is the Big Dipper, as the seven main stars form a shape similar to a ladle with a long handle.
In Eastern Europe and throughout Russia, the object is observed throughout the year(the exception is autumn in the southern regions of Russia, when the constellation is too low above the horizon). Best visibility is in early spring.
The Big Dipper has been known to mankind since ancient times and is significant in many cultures. The constellation is mentioned in the Bible and Homer's story "The Odyssey", its description is in the works of Ptolemy.
Ancient peoples associated the star figure with a camel, plow, boat, sickle, and basket. In Germany, the constellation is called the Great Basket, in China - the Imperial Chariot, in the Netherlands - the Pan, in Arab countries - the Tomb of the Mourners.
How many stars are in the constellation Ursa Major? There are seven in total, and they're all in different countries have interesting names. Residents of Mongolia call them the Seven Gods, the Hindus call them the Seven Sages.
In the American Indian imagination, the three stars that form the “bucket handle” represent three hunters chasing a bear. Alpha and beta constellations are also called “pointers”, because with the help of these stars it is not difficult to find the North Star.
Ursa Major Bucket in autumn, winter, spring, summer
IN different times year, the position of the “ursa” is not the same relative to the horizon. For better orientation, you should use a compass.
On a clear spring night, a cluster of stars is directly above the observer. From mid-April, the “bucket” begins to move west. Throughout the summer, the constellation gradually moves to the northwest and descends. In the last days of August, stars can be seen in the north, as low as possible above the horizon.
In the autumn sky, it is noticeable how the constellation slowly rises; during the winter months, as can be seen in the diagram below, moving to the northeast, it rises again in the spring as high as possible above the horizon.
To quickly find the constellation, you should remember that in summer it is in the northwest, in autumn - in the north, in winter - in the northeast, in spring - directly above the observer.
Depending on the time of day, the position of the star figure changes relative not only to the vault of heaven, but also to its own axis. The image below shows that in the evening in January-February the bucket is in the northeast (in the picture on the right) and its handle is pointing downwards.
During the night, the constellation passes through a semicircle, by morning it reaches the northwest (in the picture on the left), and the “handle” rushes upward.
In July-August the daily changes are opposite. The same contrast is observed in the spring and autumn months.
The position of the constellation in the sky is characterized by daily changes specific to each season of the year.
Stars of Ursa Major
Answering the question how many stars are in Ursa Major, the 7 most noticeable points are indicated. This seven forms the same “bucket” that is clearly visible in the night sky.
But in reality the constellation is more extensive and consists of a larger number of points. Stars of lesser brightness form the paws and face of the “bear”.
The seven main stars that are included in the constellation include:
- Dubhe(“bear”) is the alpha constellation, the second most intense glow. One of two signs to the North Pole. A red giant located 125 light years from Earth.
- Merak(translated as “loin”) is a beta star, the second pointer to the North Pole. The object is approximately 80 light years away from Earth, slightly larger in size than the Sun, and emits a powerful stream of infrared radiation.
- Fekda(“hip”) is Gamma, a dwarf star located at a distance of just under 85 light years from our planet.
- Megrets(from Arabic "base") - delta, a blue dwarf, more than 80 light years from Earth. The object was so named because it is the base of the long tail of the “heavenly beast”.
- Aliot(“tail”) - epsilon, the brightest point of the constellation, is in 31st place in terms of luminosity of objects visible in the sky (magnitude 1.8). White star, luminosity 108 times higher than that of the Sun. One of 57 celestial objects used in navigation.
- Mizar(from Arabic “belt”) is a zeta star, the fourth brightest in the “bucket”. The star is double, there is a less bright satellite - Alcor.
- Alkaid(“leader”) or Benetnash (“crying”) - this star is the third in luminosity, the end of the “bear's tail”. Blue dwarf, distance – 100 light years from our planet.
The total number of objects in the constellation is about 125.
Of these, three pairs of stars located on the same line, located at a short distance from each other, should be noted:
- Alula Borealis (nu constellations) and Alula Australis (xi);
- Tania Borealis (lambda) and Tania Australis (mu);
- Talitha Borealis (iota) and Talitha Australis (kappa).
These three pairs are also called the three gazelle leaps, and in the map below they are located at the bottom of the star cluster.
The figure shows the location of the main seven stars and objects of the Talitha, Taniya and Alula groups.
The Legend of Ursa Major
There is an ancient Greek myth from which one can understand why the constellation Ursa Major is called that way.
Callisto, the heir of King Lycaon, was one of the most beautiful nymphs who served Artemis. Zeus turned his gaze to the beauty. He took the form of Artemis and seduced the girl. The goddess became angry when she noticed in the bath that her beloved nymph was pregnant and drove her away. Unhappy Callisto went to the mountains, where she gave birth to her son Arkas.
But the nymph’s misadventures did not stop there. Hera, the wife of the seducing god, learned about Arcas, the illegitimate son of Zeus, and in revenge turned her rival into a bear. As an adult, Arkas took up hunting. One day in the mountains he encountered a bear, but he could not even think that this was his own mother. The young man wanted to shoot an arrow at the beast, but Zeus stopped him.
The main god did not allow his son to commit a terrible act, but could not break the curse given to the Hero. Taking pity on the unfortunate Callisto, Zeus turned her and her son into stars and sent them to heaven. So the Big Dipper appeared in the sky, and next to her son, the Little Dipper.
How to find Ursa Major in the sky
In the temperate zone of Russia, the “Ursa Bear” is one of the non-setting constellations, as it is located near the North Pole. Finding a “bucket” in the sky in the evening and at night is not difficult. You only need to see a star cluster once to remember what it looks like.
In the photo below you can see what a “bucket” might look like in the night sky.
For those living at the latitude of Moscow, the best time to observe the star cluster is on an April night. In the time interval between 23 and 24 hours, the “bucket” will be at its zenith. The observer will only have to build the figure by points.
If it’s not April outside, then you should look for the “ursa” in other areas of the sky:
- January-February - northeast, angle above the horizon 30 - 70°, the figure is located vertically;
- March – east, angle 50 – 80°, the figure is almost vertical;
- May – west, 60 – 90°, the “bucket” is inclined downwards by 60 – 80°;
- June-July - northwest, elevation above the horizon 40 - 70°, downward inclination of the figure 20 - 60°;
- August-September – northwest (closer to the north), 20 – 50°, the figure is parallel to the horizon;
- October – north, angle 20 – 30°, “bucket” tilted upward by 10 – 30°;
- November-December - northeast (closer to the north), 20 - 40°, the figure is inclined upward by 30 - 80°.
After getting acquainted with Ursa Major, the possibilities for exploring the starry sky expand significantly. The North Star is the first thing you can find if you know the location of the large “bucket”. And Polaris (the alpha star of Ursa Minor) is the main celestial landmark in the cardinal directions.
Big Dipper- constellation of the northern hemisphere of the sky. The seven stars of Ursa Major form a shape resembling a ladle with a handle. The two brightest stars, Alioth and Dubhe, have a magnitude of 1.8 apparent magnitude. By the two extreme stars of this figure (α and β) you can find the North Star. The best visibility conditions are in March-April. Visible throughout Russia all year round (with the exception of the autumn months in southern Russia, when Ursa Major descends low to the horizon).
There are about 125 stars in the constellation, but only seven are called the largest and brightest: Dubhe, Merak, Phekda, Megrets, Aliot, Mizar and Alkaid. Between themselves they form a bucket that is visible to the naked eye.
The legend of the appearance of the constellation
In distant Greenland there is also a legend in which the constellation Ursa Major appears. The mythology and history of this cluster are quite popular. But one story that has gained the greatest popularity among Eskimos is one that absolutely everyone talks about. It was even suggested that this legend is not fiction, but the pure truth. In a snowy house, on the very edge of Greenland, lived the great hunter Eriulok. He lived alone in a hut because he was arrogant, considering himself the best in his field. That's why he didn't want to communicate with his other tribesmen. For many years in a row he went to sea and always returned with rich booty. His house always had a lot of food and seal fat, and the walls of his home were decorated with the best skins of walruses, seals and seals.
Eriulok was rich, well-fed, but lonely. And loneliness over time began to weigh on the great hunter. He tried to make friends with his fellow Eskimos, but they did not want to have anything to do with their arrogant relative. Apparently, he offended them greatly at one time. In despair, Eriulok went to Arctic Ocean and called the lady depths of the sea, goddess Arnarkuachssak. He told her about himself and his trouble. The goddess promised to help, but in return Eriulok had to bring her a ladle with magic berries that would restore the goddess’s youth. The hunter agreed and went to a distant island and found a cave guarded by a bear. After much torment, he put the forest animal to sleep and stole a ladle of berries. The goddess did not deceive the hunter and gave him a wife, and in return received magic berries.
After all the adventures, Eriulok married and became a father large family, to the envy of all the neighbors in the area. As for the goddess, she ate all the berries, became a couple of hundred centuries younger and, in joy, threw the empty ladle into the sky, where it, caught on something, remained hanging.
Stars and asterisms
Ursa Major is the third largest constellation in area (after Hydra and Virgo), whose seven bright stars form the famous Big Dipper; this asterism has been known since ancient times among many peoples under different names: Rocker, Plow, Elk, Cart, Seven Sages, etc. All the stars of the Bucket have their own Arabic names:
- Dubhe(α Ursa Major) means “bear”;
- Merak(β) - “lower back”;
- Fekda(γ) - “thigh”;
- Megrets(δ) - “beginning of the tail”;
- Aliot(ε) - the meaning is not clear (but most likely this name means “fat tail”);
- Mizar(ζ) - “sash” or “loincloth”.
- The last star in the handle of the Bucket is called Benetnash or Alkaid(η); In Arabic, al-Qa'id Banat Nash means "leader of the mourners." This poetic image is taken from the Arabic folk understanding of the constellation Ursa Major.
In the system of naming stars using Greek letters, the order of the letters simply corresponds to the order of the stars.
Another interpretation of asterism is reflected in the alternative name Hearse and Mourners. Here the asterism is thought of as a funeral procession: in front are mourners, headed by a leader, followed by a funeral bier. This explains the name of the star η Ursa Major, “leader of the mourners.”
Inner stars of the Bucket
The 5 inner stars of the Bucket (except for the outer ones α and η) really belong to a single group in space - the moving Ursa Major cluster, which moves quite quickly across the sky; Dubhe and Benetnash move in the opposite direction, so the shape of the Bucket changes significantly in about 100,000 years.
Stars Merak and Dubhe
They form the wall of the Bucket and are called Signposts, since the straight line drawn through them rests on the North Star (in the constellation Ursa Minor). Six stars of the Bucket have a brilliance of the 2nd magnitude, and only Megrets is of the 3rd magnitude.
Alcor
Next to Mizar, which was the second telescopically discovered double star (Giovanni Riccioli in 1650; as of the early 2000s, it was probably observed as a double as early as 1617 by Galileo). A keen eye sees the 4th magnitude star Alcor (80 Ursa Major), which in Arabic means “forgotten” or “insignificant”. It is believed that the ability to distinguish the Alcor star has been a recognized test of vigilance since ancient times. The pair of stars Mizar and Alcor is often interpreted as an asterism " Horse and rider».
Three gazelle jumps
A peculiar asterism Three gazelle jumps Arabic origin consists of three pairs of closely spaced stars, and the pairs are on the same straight line and separated by equal distances. Associated with the hoof marks of a gazelle moving in leaps. Includes stars:
- Alula North and Alula South (ν and ξ, first jump),
- Taniya North and Taniya South (λ and μ, second jump),
- Talita North and Talita South (ι and κ, third jump).
Arcturus
Aliot, Mizar and Benetnash form an extended arc that points to Arcturus - the brightest star, which is located north of the celestial equator, and is also the brightest star visible in the spring in the mid-latitudes of Russia. As this arc extends further south, it points to Spica, the brightest star in the Virgo constellation.
Lalande 21185
The red dwarf, located in the Alula North region and inaccessible to observation with the naked eye, is one of the closest to Earth star systems, closer to it are only Alpha Centauri, Barnard's star and Wolf 359. Also accessible to observations through binoculars is the star Groombridge 1830, which in its own motion is second only to Barnard's star and Kapteyn's star; in a hundred years it moves by about a third of the lunar disk.
Legends about the constellation. Star of Dubhe
There are a huge number of legends and tales about the cluster of luminaries Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. There is the following belief about the brightest star Dubha from the constellation Ursa Major. The daughter of King Lycaon, the beautiful Callisto was one of the hunters of the goddess Artemis. Almighty Zeus fell in love with Callisto, and she gave birth to a boy, Arcas. For this, Zeus' jealous wife Hera turned Callisto into a bear. When Arkas grew up and became a hunter, he picked up the trail of a bear and was already preparing to hit the beast with an arrow. Zeus, seeing what was happening, did not allow the murder. It was he who turned Arkas into a smaller bear. The Lord of Heaven placed them in the firmament so that mother and son would always remain together.
Ursa Major ranks third among the constellations in terms of area, but unusually few variable stars have been found there - as of 2011, it is not among the top ten constellations in terms of this indicator.
- The Hubble Ultra Deep Field was imaged in an area one-twelfth the size of the lunar disk near the star Megrets. As of 2011, this is one of the most detailed images of the starry sky, allowing one to distinguish many galaxies billions of light years away from Earth.
- Scars in the shape of the constellation Ursa Major on the chest are worn by a character from the popular anime and manga series Hokuto No Ken, Kenshiro in many countries. At the moment, only the independent three-part short story “Fist” is available in the official Russian translation northern star: New Era".
- The world's first cryonics company is named after a star from the constellation Ursa Major.
- Soviet archaeologist and historian, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Rybakov B.A. in his famous work he wrote: “The most important constellation of our northern hemisphere - Ursa Major - in the Russian North was called “Elk”, “Elk”... Among the Poles, the North Star is called the “Elk Star” (Gwiazda Łosiowa). Among the Evenks, the constellation Ursus Major (Ursus Major) is called “Moose Haglen”.
- In the animated series Gravity Falls, the main character Dipper Pines has a birthmark in the form of this constellation on his forehead. Because of him, he received the nickname Dipper ( dipper from English - ladle, and the constellation Ursa Major is sometimes called the Big Dipper).
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How many stars are there in Ursa Major?
- star Benetas
- star Alioth
- Dubhe star
- Merak star
- Fecda star
- star Megrets
- star Mizar
- Benetash (translated from Arabic means leader of the mourners),
- Alioth (translation unknown),
- Dubhe (translated as bear).
- Merak (?) translates as lower back,
- Fekda (?) translated as thigh,
- Megrets (?) means the beginning of the tail,
- Mizar (?) is translated as sash.
I remember sitting in an astronomy lesson, the teacher told us about this or that constellation. There was a separate lesson about the Big Dipper. They told us where to look, where exactly to look. Separately, they forced me to write in a notebook the stars that are located in the Big Dipper.
Benetash, Aliot, Dukhbe, Merak, Fekda, Megrets, Mizar.
These are the school times =) It was interesting
And it’s good that there were no tests in astronomy
And so much knowledge... =)
If we talk about the stars that make up the constellation Ursa Major, then there are exactly seven of them; you should not count double stars as two, since they still cannot be separated by the eye. As a last resort, you can consider the eighth star of the constellation to be the star Alcor, which is visible next to Mizar. in ancient times, this pair of stars was called horse and rider, and it was believed that a person who managed to see Alcor had excellent vision. If we count the stars that are and can be observed in the area occupied by the constellation Ursa Major, then there are really a lot of such stars. The constellation includes more than 200 stars that can be seen with a simple telescope. And it’s scary to even imagine how much you can see with the Herschel telescope. But still, I repeat, the constellation itself is formed by only 7 stars.
A person with normal vision can see about a hundred stars. With the help of instruments you can see thousands of stars. The constellation also includes stars from galaxies that also contain many thousands of stars. How many stars do we simply not observe? And there are seven stars in the bucket, one of them is double.
Ursa Major is a large server constellation. The seven main bright stars of the constellation form the well-known and famous bucket. The constellation Ursa Major contains 210 stars visible to the naked eye.
There are only 7 stars in the constellation Ursa Major.
They are arranged in a Bucket shape.
The constellation Ursa Major was once called Seven Sages
Seven Stars:
There is a legend that the North Pole - the Arctic was named after the Constellation Ursa Major.
The ancient Greeks called it Arkos, hence the word arctic - Arctic.
The constellation Ursa Major is a very important constellation. It is easily located in the sky and helps to find the North Star. Therefore, it is important for every person to know where he is and how many stars are in the constellation Ursa Major?. These are seven stars, namely: Benetash, Aliot, Dubhe, Merak, Fekda, Megrets, Mizar.
Dear chela, no one can accurately and unambiguously answer your question. And the point is not only that not a single stellar astronomer knows the exact answer, but also that the number of observed stars will depend, figuratively speaking, on the chosen reference system. If observed in big city, for example, such as Moscow, through its dusty and light-polluted atmosphere, it is good if in this constellation we can see a dozen of the brightest stars. Observing the constellation somewhere on the western border of the Moscow region, an observer with keen eyesight will be able to see stars up to approximately the sixth magnitude (6m). And the total number of stars that he will be able to observe in the constellation Ursa Major will be about 120. If this observer observes the constellation, being at a point with an excellent astroclimate, for example, somewhere in Hawaii, near the Mauna Kea Observatory, at an altitude above 4000 meters, then he will be able to see stars up to 7m without instruments. In this case, the number of stars observable with the naked eye in the constellation Ursa Major will be approximately 240-250. But a record number of stars in the constellation Ursa Major can be seen in the Palomar Sky Atlas. It registers objects up to 21m. And these are not only the stars of our Galaxy, but also a huge number of other galaxies and their clusters. But different galaxies contain from tens of millions to hundreds of billions of stars. So it is almost impossible to count all the stars located within the boundaries of the Ursa Major constellation.
And, excuse me, I’ll correct you a little. Polar is the alpha of Ursa Minor.
One of the most beautiful and most recognizable constellations in the northern hemisphere of the sky is the constellation Ursa Major. On a clear night, the seven main stars stand out brightly, but in fact 125 can be seen with the naked eye. There are many double stars in the constellation. The most famous ones by which visual acuity is determined are Mizar and Alcor, which means Horse and Rider.
But the North Star is part of Ursa Minor.
Big Dipper- one of the most famous, most noticeable and largest constellations in the sky. It is especially well observed in the northern hemisphere, as it belongs to the circumpolar constellations (it can be observed all year round, especially part of the constellation - the Big Dipper).
There are a huge number of stars in the constellation Ursa Major.
If we talk about the Big Dipper (as part of the constellation), then most noticeable to the naked eye are 7 stars that make up the handle of the dipper and the dipper itself. It is noteworthy that the middle star of the bucket handle is a star Mizar is a double star (together with a less noticeable rider - the star Alcor. Therefore, it is worth talking about the 8 stars of the Big Dipper. Although there are actually many more stars in the constellation.
In Ursa Major seven stars. Their arrangement resembles a large ladle with a handle.
Moreover, each star in this constellation has its own name:
Three names can be seen in the picture:
The rest have the following names:
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