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53-579: Ursa Major is primarily known from the asterism of its main seven stars, which has been called the " Big Dipper ", "the Wagon", "Charles's Wain", or "the Plough", among other names. In particular, the Big Dipper's stellar configuration mimics the shape of the " Little Dipper ". Two of its stars, named Dubhe and Merak ( α Ursae Majoris and β Ursae Majoris ), can be used as the navigational pointer towards

106-400: A different asterism in mind for Ursa Major, that instead had the "bear" image of the constellation oriented with Alkaid as the tip of the bear's nose, and the "handle" of the Big Dipper part of the constellation forming the outline of the top of the bear's head and neck, rearwards to the shoulder, potentially giving it the longer head and neck of a polar bear . Ursa Major is also pictured as

159-462: A grouping of stars there was no distinct difference between a constellation and an asterism . For example, Pliny the Elder mentions 72 asterisms in his book Naturalis Historia . A general list containing 48 constellations likely began to develop with the astronomer Hipparchus (c. 190 – c. 120 BCE). As constellations were considered to be composed only of the stars that constituted the figure, it

212-441: A halo of globular clusters , indicating its age and relative stability. NGC 2950 is a lenticular galaxy located 60 million light-years from Earth. NGC 3000 is a double star, and catalogued as a nebula-type object. NGC 3079 is a starburst spiral galaxy located 52 million light-years from Earth. It has a horseshoe-shaped structure at its center that indicates the presence of a supermassive black hole . The structure itself

265-519: A line from Merak through Dubhe (1 unit) and continuing for 5 units, one's eye will land on Polaris, accurately indicating true north. Another asterism representing three pairs of footprints of a leaping gazelle is recognized in Arab culture . It is a series of three pairs of stars found along the southern border of the constellation. From southeast to southwest, the "first leap", comprising ν and ξ Ursae Majoris (Alula Borealis and Australis, respectively);

318-476: A stream. The seven sons, sympathetic to their mother, placed stepping stones in the river. Their mother, not knowing who put the stones in place, blessed them and, when they died, they became the constellation. The Iroquois interpreted Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid as three hunters pursuing the Great Bear. According to one version of their myth, the first hunter (Alioth) is carrying a bow and arrow to strike down

371-445: Is 2.53 times the mass of Jupiter . 47 Ursae Majoris c , discovered in 2001, orbits every 2391 days and is 0.54 times the mass of Jupiter. 47 Ursae Majoris d , discovered in 2010, has an uncertain period, lying between 8907 and 19097 days; it is 1.64 times the mass of Jupiter. The star is of magnitude 5.0 and is approximately 46 light-years from Earth. The star TYC 3429-697-1 ( 9 40 44 48° 14′ 2″), located to

424-533: Is A2 IV, with the luminosity class of 'IV' indicating that, after 410 million years on the main sequence , this star is in the process of evolving into a giant star as the supply of hydrogen at its core becomes exhausted. Compared to the Sun it has 240% of the mass and 230% of the Sun's radius, but is radiating 37 times as much luminosity. This energy is being emitted from the star's outer atmosphere at an effective temperature of 9,280 K, giving it

477-424: Is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Major . This star has an apparent visual magnitude of +3.45, making it one of the brighter members of the constellation. The distance to this star has been measured directly using the parallax technique, which yields a value of roughly 138 light-years (42 parsecs ) with a 4% margin of error . The stellar classification of Lambda Ursae Majoris

530-523: Is a future hot Jupiter , modeled to have evolved in a perpendicular orbit around 5 AU from its sun. The 4-Jupiter mass planet is projected to eventually move into a circular, more aligned orbit via the Kozai mechanism . However, it is currently on an incredibly eccentric orbit that ranges from approximately one astronomical unit at its apoapsis and six stellar radii at periapsis . Ursa Major has been reconstructed as an Indo-European constellation. It

583-685: Is called "bintang jong". In Theosophy , it is believed that the Seven Stars of the Pleiades focus the spiritual energy of the seven rays from the Galactic Logos to the Seven Stars of the Great Bear , then to Sirius , then to the Sun , then to the god of Earth ( Sanat Kumara ), and finally through the seven Masters of the Seven Rays to the human race. In European star charts,

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636-417: Is formed by superwinds from the black hole. NGC 3310 is another starburst spiral galaxy located 50 million light-years from Earth. Its bright white color is caused by its higher than usual rate of star formation, which began 100 million years ago after a merger. Studies of this and other starburst galaxies have shown that their starburst phase can last for hundreds of millions of years, far longer than

689-609: Is identified as the bow of the great hunter Fávdna (the star Arcturus ). In the main Sámi language, North Sámi , it is called Fávdnadávgi ("Fávdna's Bow") or simply dávggát ("the Bow"). The constellation features prominently in the Sámi anthem , which begins with the words Guhkkin davvin dávggaid vuolde sabmá suolggai Sámieanan , which translates to "Far to the north, under the Bow, the Land of

742-598: Is the brightest infrared galaxy in the sky. SN 2014J , an apparent Type Ia supernova , was observed in M82 on 21 January 2014. M97 , also called the Owl Nebula, is a planetary nebula 1,630 light-years from Earth; it has a magnitude of approximately 10. It was discovered in 1781 by Pierre Méchain . M101 , also called the Pinwheel Galaxy, is a face-on spiral galaxy located 25 million light-years from Earth. It

795-680: The International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included Tania Borealis for this star. In Chinese , 三台 ( Sān Tái ), meaning Three Steps , refers to an asterism consisting of Lambda Ursae Majoris, Iota Ursae Majoris , Kappa Ursae Majoris , Mu Ursae Majoris , Nu Ursae Majoris and Xi Ursae Majoris . Consequently,

848-498: The Solar System . It is filled with star forming regions which are creating many hot, young, blue stars at a very high rate. The Hubble Deep Field is located to the northeast of δ Ursae Majoris . HD 80606 , a sun-like star in a binary system, orbits a common center of gravity with its partner, HD 80607 ; the two are separated by 1,200 AU on average. Research conducted in 2003 indicates that its sole planet, HD 80606 b

901-658: The Starry Plough , the Irish flag of Labour, adopted by James Connolly 's Irish Citizen Army in 1916, which shows the constellation on a blue background; on the state flag of Alaska ; and on the House of Bernadotte 's variation of the coat of arms of Sweden . The seven stars on a red background of the flag of the Community of Madrid , Spain, may be the stars of the Plough asterism (or of Ursa Minor). The same can be said of

954-401: The equatorial coordinate system , the constellation stretches between the right ascension coordinates of 08 08.3 and 14 29.0 and the declination coordinates of +28.30° and +73.14°. Ursa Major borders eight other constellations: Draco to the north and northeast, Boötes to the east, Canes Venatici to the east and southeast, Coma Berenices to the southeast, Leo and Leo Minor to

1007-465: The "Wain" or "Plaustrum", a Latin word referring to a ‍horse-drawn ‍cart. In Hinduism , Ursa Major/Big dipper/ Great Bear is known as Saptarshi , each of the stars representing one of the Saptarishis or Seven Sages (Rishis) viz. Bhrigu , Atri , Angiras , Vasishtha , Pulastya , Pulaha , and Kratu . The fact that the two front stars of the constellations point to the pole star is explained as

1060-453: The "second leap", comprising λ and μ Ursae Majoris (Tania Borealis and Australis); and the "third leap", comprising ι and κ Ursae Majoris , (Talitha Borealis and Australis respectively). W Ursae Majoris is the prototype of a class of contact binary variable stars , and ranges between 7.75 and 8.48. 47 Ursae Majoris is a Sun-like star with a three-planet system . 47 Ursae Majoris b , discovered in 1996, orbits every 1078 days and

1113-861: The Carina Nebula and near the Large Magellanic Cloud (both being first-magnitude deep-sky objects), Achernar in the Eridanus constellation east of Canopus, Fomalhaut in the Southern Fish constellation east of Achernar and Antares in the Scorpius constellation visually near the Galactic Center . Some asterisms refer to portions of traditional constellation figures. These include: Other asterisms are also composed of stars from one constellation, but do not refer to

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1166-608: The Parrhasian Bear, since Callisto came from Parrhasia in Arcadia , where the story is set. The Greek poet Aratus called the constellation Helike, ("turning" or "twisting"), because it turns around the celestial pole. The Odyssey notes that it is the sole constellation that never sinks below the horizon and "bathes in the Ocean's waves", so it is used as a celestial reference point for navigation . It has also been called

1219-556: The Romans as Diana ). Zeus's jealous wife Hera ( Juno to the Romans) discovers that Callisto has a son named Arcas as the result of her rape by Zeus and transforms Callisto into a bear as a punishment. Callisto, while in bear form, later encounters her son Arcas . Arcas almost spears the bear, but to avert the tragedy Zeus whisks them both into the sky, Callisto as Ursa Major and Arcas as the constellation Boötes . Ovid called Ursa Major

1272-539: The Sámi slowly comes into view." The Bow is an important part of the Sámi traditional narrative about the night sky, in which various hunters try to chase down Sarva , the Great Reindeer, a large constellation that takes up almost half the sky. According to the legend, Fávdna stands ready to fire his Bow every night but hesitates because he might hit Stella Polaris , known as Boahji ("the Rivet"), which would cause

1325-492: The area surrounding South Celestial Pole . Many of these proposed constellations have been formally accepted, but the rest have remained as asterisms. In 1928, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) precisely divided the sky into 88 official constellations following geometric boundaries encompassing all of the stars within them. Any additional new selected groupings of stars or former constellations are often considered as asterisms. However, technical distinctions between

1378-559: The bear. The second hunter (Mizar) carries a large pot – the star Alcor – on his shoulder in which to cook the bear while the third hunter (Alkaid) hauls a pile of firewood to light a fire beneath the pot. The Lakota people call the constellation Wičhákhiyuhapi , or "Great Bear". The Wampanoag people (Algonquian) referred to Ursa Major as "maske", meaning "bear" according to Thomas Morton in The New England Canaan. The Wasco-Wishram Native Americans interpreted

1431-442: The best-known patterns in the sky. As many of its common names allude, its shape is said to resemble a ladle , an agricultural plough , or wagon . In the context of Ursa Major, they are commonly drawn to represent the hindquarters and tail of the Great Bear. Starting with the "ladle" portion of the dipper and extending clockwise (eastward in the sky) through the handle, these stars are the following: Except for Dubhe and Alkaid ,

1484-425: The biblical book of Job , dated between the 7th and 4th centuries BC, although this is often disputed. The constellation of Ursa Major has been seen as a bear , usually female, by many distinct civilizations. This may stem from a common oral tradition of Cosmic Hunt myths stretching back more than 13,000 years. Using statistical and phylogenetic tools, Julien d'Huy reconstructs the following Palaeolithic state of

1537-835: The boon given to the boy sage Dhruva by Lord Vishnu . One of the few star groups mentioned in the Bible ( Job 9:9 ; 38:32 ; – Orion and the Pleiades being others), Ursa Major was also pictured as a bear by the Jews . "The Bear" was translated as "Arcturus" in the Vulgate and it persisted in the King James Version of the Bible. In China and Japan, the Big Dipper is called the "North Dipper" 北斗 ( Chinese : běidǒu , Japanese : hokuto ), and in ancient times, each one of

1590-470: The bottom of the bowl of the Big Dipper. M81 is a nearly face-on spiral galaxy 11.8 million light-years from Earth. Like most spiral galaxies, it has a core made up of old stars, with arms filled with young stars and nebulae . Along with M82 , it is a part of the galaxy cluster closest to the Local Group . M82 is a nearly edgewise galaxy that is interacting gravitationally with M81. It

1643-608: The characteristic white-hot glow of an A-type star . λ Ursae Majoris ( Latinised to Lambda Ursae Majoris ) is the star's Bayer designation . It bore the traditional names Tania (shared with Mu Ursae Majoris ) and Tania Borealis . Tania comes from the Arabic phrase Al Fiḳrah al Thānia 'the Second Spring (of the Gazelle)'. and Borealis (originally borealis ) is Latin for 'the north side'. In 2016,

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1696-475: The constellation as five wolves and two bears that were left in the sky by Coyote . To Norse pagans , the Big Dipper was known as Óðins vagn , " Woden 's wagon". Likewise Woden is poetically referred to by Kennings such as vagna verr 'guardian of the wagon' or vagna rúni 'confidant of the wagon' In the Finnish language , the asterism is sometimes called by its old Finnish name, Otava . The meaning of

1749-617: The constellation was visualized with the 'square' of the Big Dipper forming the bear's body and the chain of stars forming the Dipper's "handle" as a long tail. However, bears do not have long tails, and Jewish astronomers considered Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid instead to be three cubs following their mother, while the Native Americans saw them as three hunters. Noted children's book author H. A. Rey , in his 1952 book The Stars: A New Way to See Them , ( ISBN   0-395-24830-2 ) had

1802-689: The east of θ Ursae Majoris and to the southwest of the "Big Dipper") has been recognized as the state star of Delaware , and is informally known as the Delaware Diamond. Several bright galaxies are found in Ursa Major, including the pair Messier 81 (one of the brightest galaxies in the sky) and Messier 82 above the bear's head, and Pinwheel Galaxy (M101), a spiral northeast of Alkaid . The spiral galaxies Messier 108 and Messier 109 are also found in this constellation. The bright planetary nebula Owl Nebula (M97) can be found along

1855-429: The mid-northern latitudes. From southern temperate latitudes, the main asterism is invisible, but the southern parts of the constellation can still be viewed. Ursa Major covers 1279.66 square degrees or 3.10% of the total sky, making it the third largest constellation. In 1930, Eugène Delporte set its official International Astronomical Union (IAU) constellation boundaries, defining it as a 28-sided irregular polygon. In

1908-550: The name has been almost forgotten in Modern Finnish; it means a salmon weir . Ancient Finns believed the bear ( Ursus arctos ) was lowered to earth in a golden basket off the Ursa Major, and when a bear was killed, its head was positioned on a tree to allow the bear's spirit to return to Ursa Major. In the Sámi languages of Northern Europe, part of the constellation (i.e. the Big Dipper minus Dubhe and Merak ,

1961-691: The particular perspectives of their observations. For example the Summer Triangle is a purely observational physically unrelated group of stars, but the stars of Orion's Belt are all members of the Orion OB1 association and five of the seven stars of the Big Dipper are members of the Ursa Major Moving Group . Physical associations, such as the Hyades or Pleiades , can be asterisms in their own right and part of other asterisms at

2014-529: The place of the current northern pole star , Polaris in Ursa Minor . Ursa Major, along with asterisms it contains or overlaps, is significant to numerous world cultures, often as a symbol of the north. Its depiction on the flag of Alaska is a modern example of such symbolism. Ursa Major is visible throughout the year from most of the Northern Hemisphere , and appears circumpolar above

2067-599: The same time. In many early civilizations, it was common to associate groups of stars in connect-the-dots stick-figure patterns. Some of the earliest records are those of ancient India in the Vedanga Jyotisha and the Babylonians . Different cultures identified different constellations, although a few of the more obvious patterns tend to appear in the constellations of multiple cultures, such as those of Orion and Scorpius . As anyone could arrange and name

2120-414: The seven stars had a specific name, often coming themselves from ancient China: In Shinto , the seven largest stars of Ursa Major belong to Ame-no-Minakanushi , the oldest and most powerful of all kami . In South Korea , the constellation is referred to as "the seven stars of the north". In the related myth, a widow with seven sons found comfort with a widower, but to get to his house required crossing

2173-478: The seven stars pictured in the bordure azure of the coat of arms of Madrid , capital of that country. Asterism (astronomy) An asterism is an observed pattern or group of stars in the sky . Asterisms can be any identified pattern or group of stars, and therefore are a more general concept than the 88 formally defined constellations . Constellations are based on asterisms, but unlike asterisms, constellations outline and today completely divide

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2226-427: The sky and all its celestial objects into regions around their central asterisms. For example, the asterism known as the Big Dipper or the Plough comprises the seven brightest stars in the constellation Ursa Major . Another asterism is the triangle , within the constellation of Capricornus . Asterisms range from simple shapes of just a few stars to more complex collections of many stars covering large portions of

2279-469: The sky to collapse and end the world. In Burmese , Pucwan Tārā (ပုဇွန် တာရာ, [bəzʊ̀ɴ tàjà] ) is the name of a constellation comprising stars from the head and forelegs of Ursa Major; pucwan (ပုဇွန်) is a general term for a crustacean , such as prawn , shrimp , crab , lobster , etc. In Javanese , it is known as "lintang jong", which means "the jong constellation". Likewise, in Malay it

2332-409: The sky. The stars themselves may be bright naked-eye objects or fainter, even telescopic, but they are generally all of a similar brightness to each other. The larger brighter asterisms are useful for people who are familiarizing themselves with the night sky. The patterns of stars seen in asterisms are not necessarily a product of any physical association between the stars, but are rather the result of

2385-696: The south, Lynx to the southwest and Camelopardalis to the northwest. The three-letter constellation abbreviation "UMa" was adopted by the IAU in 1922. 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   or (historically) Charles' Wain . Six of the seven stars are of second magnitude or higher, and it forms one of

2438-533: The stars of the Big Dipper all have proper motions heading toward a common point in Sagittarius . A few other such stars have been identified, and together they are called the Ursa Major Moving Group . The stars Merak (β Ursae Majoris) and Dubhe (α Ursae Majoris) are known as the "pointer stars" because they are helpful for finding Polaris , also known as the North Star or Pole Star. By visually tracing

2491-460: The story: "There is an animal that is a horned herbivore, especially an elk. One human pursues this ungulate. The hunt locates or get to the sky. The animal is alive when it is transformed into a constellation. It forms the Big Dipper." In Greek mythology , Zeus (the king of the gods, known as Jupiter in Roman mythology ) lusts after a young woman named Callisto , a nymph of Artemis (known to

2544-488: The terms 'constellation' and 'asterism' often remain somewhat ambiguous. Some asterisms consist completely of bright first-magnitude stars , which mark out simple geometric shapes. Other asterisms consist partially of multiple first-magnitude stars. All other first-magnitude stars are the only such stars in their asterisms or constellations, with Canopus in the Argo Navis asterism south of Sirius, visually east of

2597-400: The traditional figures. Other asterisms that are formed from stars in more than one constellation. Asterisms range from the large and obvious to the small, and even telescopic. Lambda Ursae Majoris Lambda Ursae Majoris ( λ Ursae Majoris , abbreviated Lambda UMa , λ UMa ), formally named Tania Borealis / ˈ t eɪ n i ə ˌ b ɒ r i ˈ æ l ɪ s / ,

2650-546: Was always possible to use any leftover stars to create and squeeze in a new grouping among the established constellations. Exploration by Europeans to other parts of the globe exposed them to stars previously unknown to them. Two astronomers particularly known for greatly expanding the number of southern constellations were Johann Bayer (1572–1625) and Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (1713–1762). Bayer had listed twelve figures made out of stars that were too far south for Ptolemy to have seen. Lacaille created 14 new groups, mostly for

2703-423: Was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781. Its spiral arms have regions with extensive star formation and have strong ultraviolet emissions . It has an integrated magnitude of 7.5, making it visible in both binoculars and telescopes, but not to the naked eye. NGC 2787 is a lenticular galaxy at a distance of 24 million light-years. Unlike most lenticular galaxies, NGC 2787 has a bar at its center. It also has

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2756-544: Was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century AD astronomer Ptolemy in his Almagest , who called it Arktos Megale. It is mentioned by such poets as Homer , Spenser , Shakespeare , Tennyson and also by Federico Garcia Lorca , in "Song for the Moon". Ancient Finnish poetry also refers to the constellation, and it features in the painting Starry Night Over the Rhône by Vincent van Gogh . It may be mentioned in

2809-400: Was previously assumed. NGC 4013 is an edge-on spiral galaxy located 55 million light-years from Earth. It has a prominent dust lane and has several visible star forming regions. I Zwicky 18 is a young dwarf galaxy at a distance of 45 million light-years. The youngest-known galaxy in the visible universe, I Zwicky 18 is about 4 million years old, about one-thousandth the age of

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