Constellations · Constellation · Ursae Majoris · UMa
Constellation
Ursa Major
The Great Bear — the nymph Callisto, turned into a bear and flung into the sky. Its seven brightest stars are the Big Dipper, or the Plough.
- Genitive
- Ursae Majoris
- Area
- 1,280 square degrees · 3rd of 88
- Brightest star
- Alioth · magnitude 1.76
- Naked-eye stars
- 214 brighter than magnitude 6.5
- Highest at midnight
- early March
Myth
Zeus loved Callisto; jealous Hera turned her into a bear. Zeus placed her among the stars, and Hera persuaded the sea god never to let her bathe, which is why she circles the pole and never sets.
Look for
The two stars at the end of the bowl, Merak and Dubhe, are the Pointers: follow them about five times their gap to reach Polaris.
Other skies
The seven stars have been a plough, a wagon, a ladle, the Seven Sages of India, the coffin and mourners of Arab tradition, and, in the southern United States, the “drinking gourd” that escaping slaves followed north.