September 2, 2024. Stargazing 2. The Big Dipper and Ursa Major

In this post I will show the Big Dipper and Ursa Major. The Big Dipper is not a constellation, it is called an asterism, which is only a pattern of stars within a constellation. In this case, the Big Dipper is an asterism within the constellation of Ursa Major (the Big Bear).

I said in the previous Stargazing post that 2 stars in the Big Dipper point towards Polaris. So, this means that in order to find the Big Dipper, and Ursa Major we have to look due North. The Big Dipper is actually the tail and the back of the body of the bear.

The 2 stars that point towards Polaris are Merak and Dubhe

Image of the Big Dipper, Ursa Major and Polaris obtained with Stellarium software

Image of Telescope Star and Moon obtained from the public domain. Team445, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.