Ursa Major
Ursa Major Background:
Ursa Major means “larger bear” in Latin. It is a constellation seen all year round from our latitude. The area of this constellation is 1280 square degrees. It is the third largest constellation in the sky. Our galaxy is called the Milky Way (Smith, 2012). Ursa Major was used on the underground railroad to help aid slaves in getting to freedom. This is because the big dipper points to Polaris which showed the slaves what direction north was. There were many song sung about the water gourd in the sky. They were referencing the big dipper. Inside the “larger bear” is an asterism called the big dipper, or in the U.K. the plough. An asterism is a grouping of stars that can be recognizable in a pattern from earth. It may be confined within a larger constellation (May et al.).
How can one see Ursa Major?
Ursa Major’s right ascension is 11 hours. Its declination is 50º. It can best be seen in April. The edge farthest from the handle the stars point towards Polaris. Many sailors used this for orienteering. Polaris is the North Star. If travelers could find that when lost then they could figure out where to go from there (“Ursa Major” 2006).
Stories of the Larger Bear:
Many cultures make up stories about the night sky in aid in remembering the important stars. Many made stories about Ursa Major because of its help in determining the location of the North star in the northern hemisphere. It is referred to as the gigantic bear by various Native American tribes.
The Greek story is about Callisto. She was a nymph. Zeus had fallen in love with her. He had a wife called Hera. She was a very jealous woman and soon became weary of the nymph. Callisto asked Zeus if he could turn her into a bear to protect herself from Hera. Zeus granted this wish. Callisto had a son named Arcas, who was a very good hunter. One day he found his mother who is a bear in the woods. He decided to hunt the bear. Zeus saw this happening. Just before Arcas shot his mother, he turned him into a bear. He whipped both Callisto and Arcas by their tails into the air. Now they make up the Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (Miles, 2008).
In Chinese history, they have a story as well about the gigantic bear in the sky. Their story speaks of the four virtues and their mother that make up the big dipper. One of the virtues was named K’uai. He was very smart and witty. However he was very ugly. He could make no friends. Each time someone would see him they would shudder. At this point in time in China, there were academic examinations to see who the smartest youth were in the country at the time. Of course when K’uai became old enough to take this exam he won. The king would award the winner a golden rose in a huge ceremony. The king had been warned of K’uai’s ugliness. The king did everything in his power to prepare himself. When the king announced the winner at the ceremony and K’uai came up on the stage, the king shuddered at the sight of K’uai. He dropped the precious rose. As it hit the ground it shattered into a million pieces. K’uai was in immediate sorrow and disgrace. He ran to the ocean side and flung himself off a cliff. He plummeted to the bottom of the water where a sea monster found him. The monster raised K’uai to the heavens where he now resides in the big dipper as the saint to all scholars on earth (Miles, 2008).
The Algonquin Native Americans had a story as well. Their story is about an angry bear who loved to attack this one village. Each time that the bear came back he became more and more vicious. All people were afraid of the bear. The Elders of the tribes in the area held council. They decided they were to put their best warriors forward to rid them of the bear. The search narrowed it down to three equally brave and equally strong warriors. When the bear realized this, he began to get nervous and decided to flee. The warriors chased the bear for many months. Soon the bear began to grow tired. All things that he did were not working. So he decided to run into the sky. The warriors followed him. They chased him around the Polaris shooting arrows. One arrow finally struck the bear. The bear’s magic however only left him wounded. As his blood dripped down from the sky it caused the leaves on the trees to change colour and fall off. That is why we have seasons (Miles, 2008).
What Objects can be found in Ursa Major?
There are multiple different stars that are within the Ursa Major constellation. Some of the stars in the constellation include Mizar(magnitude of2.1), Alioth (magnitude 1.8), Dubhe (magnitude of 1.9), Alkaid(magnitude of1.9), Merak (magnitude of 2.4), Phad (magnitude of 2.4) and Megrez(magnitude of 3.0). The constellation has only been visible for about 50,000 years. Within the constellation there are several galaxies that are visible with telescopes. There are two spiral galaxies and an irregular galaxy. The spiral galaxies are called Bode's Galaxy or Bode's Nebula and the other is called the Pinwheel Galaxy. The irregular galaxy is called the Cigar Galaxy. Also the Owl Nebula is visible. A spiral galaxy is made up of stars gas and dust that congregates with a centre and bands that corkscrew outwards from that centre. An irregular galaxy on the other hand does not have a definite shape and that is how its name was derived (Smith).
Works Cited
May, Ph.D., Brian, Patrick Moore, and Chris Lintott. “Genesis: In the Beginning.” Bang! The Complete History of the Universe. 2008. Print.
Miles, Kathy, and Chuck Peters. “Ursa Major.” StarrySkies.com. N.p., 2008. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. .
Smith, Richard Dibon. “Ursa Major.” The Constellations Web Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2012. .
“Ursa Major.”
Kentwood Amateur Astronomy League (KAAL). N.p., 26 June 2006. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. .
Revision by Raina Workman
O’Connell
![[paper clip]](/courses/source/wiki_images/paper_clip_tilt.png)
name last modified size