The composition of the big dipper description aliot. The brightest star in the constellation Ursa Major add your price to the database comment

Goes constellation Big Dipper... I'm sure it won't sound loud, that this constellation is the most recognizable in the entire northern hemisphere due to its 7 bright stars, shaped like a bucket.

Legend and history

The constellation was named after the nymph Callisto. There are many different legends. One of them has approximately the following content.

According to ancient Greek legend, Zeus saw a beautiful girl, the nymph Callisto, and fell in love with her. Callisto was one of the virgins who accompanied the goddess Diana the hunter. Zeus assumed the form of Diana and became close to Callisto. Seeing this, the real Diana sent her away from her eyes. Hera, the wife of Zeus, having learned about such an act, turned the nymph into a bear. Callisto's son, Arkad, when he grew up, met his mother. But I did not recognize her in the form of a bear. Zeus, fearing that his son would kill his mother, placed both in the sky in the form of the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. But even in heaven, Callisto did not know peace. Hera begged the gods not to allow the bear to plunge into the ocean. Since then, the nymph-bear has been circling across the sky, without sitting over the horizon.

Ursa Major is one of the most ancient constellations of the starry sky. It has the same name among the Slavs, Indians, Greeks. Included in the catalog of the starry sky by Claudius Ptolemy "Almagest".

The seven stars of the Big Dipper make up the figure that forms the bucket with a handle asterism. But this is only a small part of the constellation itself.

Specifications

The most interesting objects to observe in the constellation Ursa Major

Constellation Ursa Major

1. Planetary Nebula "Owl" (M 97)

With a mass of only 0.15 solar, it has a brightness of 9.9 m. It got its name due to the similarity with the eyes of an owl. It can only be found with a professional telescope in good weather conditions. According to scientists, the age is about 6 thousand years. It is located on the bottom of the Big Dipper bowl:

Search for the Owl Planetary Nebula

2. Optical double star M 40

Charles Messier in the 18th century was looking for a nebula that Jan Hevelia had mistakenly described, but in its place he discovered a faint double star. It was decided to enter it into the catalog under serial number 40 ( M 40). These are two stars with a brightness of 9 m and 9.3 m. As calculations show, this is an optically double star, that is, both stars are in no way connected with each other, but are located close along the line of sight. The location in the sky relative to the bucket is shown below:

3. Spiral galaxy M 101

Spiral galaxy popularly M 101 nicknamed "Pinwheel"... Has a brightness of 7.7 m. It will not work through binoculars, due to the weak surface brightness. No matter how hard I tried, it didn't work out. But already in amateur telescopes, you can see the bright central part... The photo shows that M 101 asymmetric: the galactic nucleus is far from the center of the disk. This galaxy is well studied by scientists: they were observed in it in 1909, 1951 and 1970.

It is not difficult to find it in the starry sky, and beginners often begin to practice with it.

Spiral Galaxy "Pinwheel" (M 101)

4. Spiral galaxy M 108

A galaxy that can be found in semi-professional or professional telescopes. As a rule, it is paired with the planetary nebula "Owl" (2) due to its proximity. Has a brightness of 10.0 m.

5. Spiral galaxy M 109

In some sources, you can find its other name - "Vacuum cleaner"... It is located not far from the Ursa Major gamma, and, despite the fact that it has a brightness of only 9.8 m, you can try to find it with a telescope. M 109 has at least three own satellite galaxies. Taking the star Fad (Fekda) as a reference point, we move smoothly and slowly to the west - after a few seconds we are trying to recognize and find the desired galaxy:

M 109 or Galaxy "Vacuum Cleaner"

6. A pair of galaxies M 81 and M 82

Two nearby galaxies M 81 and M 82

Probably the most key objects to observe in the constellation Ursa Major. First, they are not hard to find; secondly, both have an accessible stellar magnitude for observation even with amateur telescopes: 6.9 m and 8.4 m, respectively; thirdly, in close proximity to each other at low magnification, they can be seen simultaneously in the telescope lens, approximately, as shown in the photo above. An example search route is shown below:

Above the Bode Nebula is the Cigar Galaxy

Considering both galaxies separately, it is worth adding that M 81 or the Bode Nebula is a beautiful spiral galaxy. It deforms its "neighbor" by the gravitational field. Hubble telescope studies 32 variable stars inside M 81.

Galaxy M 82 or "Cigar" has an irregular shape (refers to) and is weaker than M 81... Active star formation takes place inside it. At the center of the galaxy is a supermassive

Ursa Major is a constellation that schoolchildren get acquainted with in grade 2, taking the course "The World Around".

It is important for children to learn how to find a stellar "bucket" in the night sky, because the constellation is a reference point for the search for many other celestial objects.

Description of the constellation Ursa Major

Ursa Major (Ursa Major) is the constellation of the northern hemisphere, which is the 3rd largest constellation. The common name for the celestial object is the Big Dipper, since the seven main stars form a figure that looks like a dipper with a long handle.

On the territory of Eastern Europe and all of 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). The 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 writings of Ptolemy.

The ancient peoples associated the star figure with a camel, plow, boat, sickle, basket. In Germany, the constellation is called the Big Basket, in China - the Imperial Chariot, in the Netherlands - the Pan, in the Arab countries - the Tomb of the Mourners.

How many stars are there in the constellation Ursa Major? There are seven of themand they are all in different countries have interesting names. The inhabitants of Mongolia call them the Seven Gods, the Hindus - the Seven Sages.

For the American Indian, the three stars forming the "bucket handle" are three hunters chasing a bear. Alpha and beta of the constellation are also called "pointers", because with the help of these stars it is easy to find the North Star.

Big Dipper bucket in autumn, winter, spring, summer

IN different times year, the position of the "bear" is not the same relative to the horizon. For better orientation, use a compass.

On a clear spring night, a cluster of stars is directly above the observer. From mid-April, the "ladle" begins to move to the west. Throughout the summer, the constellation gradually goes to the northwest, 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 it, as can be seen in the diagram below, moving northeast, again ascends in spring as high as possible above the horizon.

To quickly find the constellation, remember that in the summer it is in the northwest, in the fall - in the north, in the winter - in the northeast, in the spring - directly above the observer.

Depending on the time of day, the position of the star figure changes relative not only to the firmament, 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 down.

During the night, the constellation passes a semicircle, by morning it reaches the north-west (in the picture on the left), and the "handle" rushes up.

In July-August, diurnal 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 a diurnal change, specific for each season of the year.

Big Dipper Stars

When asked how many stars are in the Big Dipper, the 7 most noticeable points indicate. This seven forms the very "bucket", clearly visible in the night sky.

But in reality, the constellation is broader, consists of more points. Stars of lower brightness form the paws and face of the "bear".

The seven main stars that make up the constellation include:

1. Dubhe ("Bear") - the alpha of the constellation, the second in terms of glow intensity. One of two pointers to the North Pole. A red giant, 125 light-years distant from Earth.
2. Merak (translated as "loin") - beta star, the second pointer to the North Pole. The object is approximately 80 light-years distant from Earth, slightly larger than the Sun, and emits a powerful stream of infrared radiation.
3. Fekda ("Thigh") - gamma, a dwarf star, located at a distance of just under 85 light-years from our planet.
4. Megrets (from Arabic "base") - delta, a blue dwarf, more than 80 light-years from Earth. The object is so named because it is the base of the long tail of the "heavenly beast".
5. Aliot ("Tail") - epsilon, the brightest point of the constellation, is in 31st place in terms of the 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.
6. Mizar (from Arabic "belt") - the zeta star, the fourth brightest in the "bucket". The star is double, there is a less bright satellite - Alcor.
7. Alkaid ("Leader") or Benetnash ("crying") - this star, the third in luminosity, the end of the "bear's tail". A blue dwarf, 100 light-years distant 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 should be noted, located at a short distance from each other:

• Alula Borealis (nude constellations) and Alula Australis (xi);
• Tania Borealis (lambda) and Tania Australis (mu);
• Talita Borealis (iota) and Talita Australis (kappa).

These three pairs are also called the three jumps of the gazelle, on 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 Talita, Tania and Alula groups.

The Legend of the Big Dipper

There is an ancient Greek myth, according to which one can understand why the constellation Ursa Major is so called.

Callisto, the heiress of King Lycaon, was one of the most beautiful nymphs who served Artemis. Zeus turned his gaze on the beauty. He took the form of Artemis and seduced the girl. The goddess got 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 misadventures of the nymph did not stop there. Hera, the wife of the seducing god, learned about Arkas, the illegitimate son of Zeus, and in revenge turned her rival into a bear. As an adult, Arkas took up hunting. Once in the mountains, he ran into a bear, but he could not even think that his own mother was in front of him. 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 he could not break the curse given by 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 it was the Ursa Minor.

How to find the Big Dipper in the sky

In the temperate zone of Russia, the "she-bear" belongs to 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. It is enough to see a star cluster once to remember what it looks like.

Below in the photo you can see how a "bucket" can look in the night sky.

For those living at the latitude of Moscow, it is best to observe the star cluster on an April night. In the 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 is not April outside the window, then you should look for the "bear" in other zones of the sky:

• january-February - northeast, the angle above the horizon is 30 - 70 °, the figure is vertical;
• march - east, angle 50 - 80 °, figure is almost vertical;
• may - west, 60 - 90 °, the "bucket" is inclined downward by 60 - 80 °;
• june-July - northwest, elevation above the horizon 40 - 70 °, inclination of the figure down 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 upwards by 10 - 30 °;
• november-December - northeast (closer to the north), 20 - 40 °, the figure is tilted upwards by 30 - 80 °.

After meeting the Big Dipper, the possibilities of studying the starry sky are significantly expanded. The North Star is the first thing that can be found, knowing the location of the large "bucket". And Polar (alpha star Ursa Minor) is the main celestial landmark to the cardinal points.

Big Dipper - constellation of the northern hemisphere of the sky. The seven stars of the Big Dipper make up a figure that resembles a bucket with a handle. The two brightest stars, Aliot and Dubhe, have a magnitude of 1.8 apparent magnitude. The two extreme stars of this figure (α and β) can be used to find the North Star. Best conditions visibility - in March-April. It is visible throughout Russia all year round (except for the autumn months in southern Russia, when the Big Dipper descends low to the horizon).

There are about 125 stars in the constellation, but only seven are called the largest and brightest: Dubhe, Merak, Thekda, Megrets, Aliot, Mizar and Alkaid. Between themselves they form a bucket, which 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 is quite popular. But the most popular among the Eskimos is one story that everyone tells about. It was even suggested that this legend is not fiction, but the purest truth. The great hunter Eriulok lived in a snow house on the very edge of Greenland. He lived in a hut alone, as he was arrogant, considering himself the best in his business. Therefore, he did not want to communicate with his other fellow tribesmen. For many years in a row he went to sea and always returned with rich booty. In his house there was always a lot of food, seal oil, and the walls of his house 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 deal with an arrogant relative. Apparently, he offended them greatly in his time. In desperation, Eriulok went to the Arctic Ocean and called the ruler of the depths of the sea, the 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 return the goddess to youth. The hunter agreed and went to a distant island, found a cave guarded by a bear. After long torment, he euthanized the forest beast 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 the father of a large family, to the envy of all the neighbors in the area. As for the goddess, she ate all the berries, rejuvenated by a couple of hundred centuries and, in joy, threw an empty bucket into the sky, where he, clinging to something, remained hanging.

Stars and asterisms

Ursa Major is the third largest constellation (after Hydra and Virgo), seven bright stars of which form the famous Big Bucket; this asterism has been known since antiquity 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) - "loin";
• 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 bucket handle is called Benetnash or Alkaid (η); in Arabic "al-Qaedan banat our" means "leader of the mourners." This poetic image is taken from the Arabian folk interpretation of the constellation Ursa Major.

In the Greek lettering system for stars, the order of the letters simply corresponds to the order of the stars.

Another version of the interpretation of asterism is reflected in the alternative name Hearse and Mourners... Here asterism is thought of as a funeral procession: in front of the mourners, led by the leader, behind them are the funeral stretchers. This explains the name of the star η Ursa Major "leader of the mourners."

Inner Bucket Stars

The 5 inner stars of the Bucket (except for the extreme α and η) really belong to a single group in space - the Ursa Major moving cluster, which moves quite quickly across the sky; Dubhe and Benetnash are moving in the other direction, so the shape of the Bucket changes significantly in about 100,000 years.

Stars Merak and Dubhe

Form the bucket wall, called Pointers, since the straight line drawn through them rests on the Polar Star (in the constellation Ursa Minor). The six Bucket stars are of the 2nd magnitude and only Megrets is the 3rd.

Alcor

Next to Mizar, which was the second among the binary stars discovered in the telescope (Giovanni Riccioli in 1650; according to data at the beginning of the 2000s, it was probably observed as a binary as early as 1617 by Galileo). A keen eye sees a 4-magnitude star Alcor (80 Big Dipper), which in Arabic means "forgotten" or "insignificant". It is believed that the ability to discern the star Alcor has been a recognized test of vigilance since ancient times. The pair of stars Mizar and Alcor is often interpreted as asterism " Horse and rider».

Three jumps of a gazelle

A kind of asterism Three jumps of a gazelle of Arabic origin consists of three pairs of closely spaced stars, and the pairs are on one straight line and are separated by equal distances. Associated with hoofprints of a jumping gazelle. Includes stars:

• Alula North and Alula South (ν and ξ, first jump),
• Tania North and Tania 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 north of the celestial equator, and also the brightest star visible in spring in the middle latitudes of Russia. As this arc extends further south, it points to Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo.

Laland 21185

The red dwarf, located in the Alula Severnaya region and inaccessible to observations with the naked eye, is one of the closest star systems to Earth, closer to it are only Alpha Centauri, Barnard's star and Wolf 359. The star Groombridge 1830 is also available for binocular observations, which is inferior in its own motion only Barnard's star and Kaptein's star, in a hundred years it is displaced by about a third of the lunar disk.

Legends of the constellation. Dubhe Star

There are a lot of legends and tales about the cluster of the stars of the Big Dipper and the Ursa Minor. The following belief goes about the brightest star Dubhe 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 named Arkas. For this, the jealous wife of Zeus, Hera, turned Callisto into a bear. When Arkas grew up and became a hunter, he attacked the trail of a bear and was already preparing to strike 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 ruler of heaven placed them in the firmament so that mother and son would always remain together.

Ursa Major is the third largest constellation in terms of area, but unusually few variable stars have been found there - in 2011 it is not included in the first ten constellations for this indicator.

• The Hubble Ultra Deep Field was imaged in an area one-twelfth of the lunar disk near Megrez. For 2011, this is one of the most detailed images of the starry sky, allowing you to distinguish many galaxies that are billions of light years distant from Earth.
• Scars in the shape of the constellation Ursa Major on the chest are worn by the character of the anime and manga Hokuto No Ken, Kenshiro, popular in many countries. At the moment, only the independent three-part story "Fist of the Northern Star: New Era" is available in the official Russian translation.
• The world's first cryo company is named after the star from the constellation Ursa Major.
• Soviet archaeologist and historian, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Rybakov B.A. In his well-known work he wrote: “The most important constellation of our northern hemisphere - Ursa Major - in the Russian North was called“ Elk ”,“ Sokhatym ”... The Poles called the Pole Star“ Elk Star ”(Gwiazda Łosiowa). The Evenks call the constellation Ursus Major (Ursus Major) "Elk Haglen".
• In the animated series "Gravity Falls" on the forehead of the protagonist Dipper Pines there is birthmark in the form of this constellation. Because of him, he received the nickname Dipper ( dipper from English - ladle, and the constellation Ursa Major is sometimes called the Big Dipper).

Ursa Major (lat. Ursa major) Is the constellation of the northern hemisphere of the sky. The seven stars of the Big Dipper make up a figure that resembles a bucket with a handle. The two brightest stars, Aliot and Dubhe, have a magnitude of 1.8 apparent magnitude. The two extreme stars of this figure (α and β) can be used to find the North Star. The best visibility conditions are in March - April. It is visible throughout Russia all year round (except for the autumn months in southern Russia, when the Big Dipper descends low to the horizon).

Short description

Detailed description

The constellation Ursa Major is located in the northern hemisphere of the starry sky... People have known it for many thousands of years. He was known by the astronomers of Egypt, Babylon, China and Ancient Greece. It was included by Claudius Ptolemy in his monograph "Almagest" in the II century. And this work united all the knowledge of astronomy at that time.

The Big Dipper is formed by the following seven stars:

1. Dubhe (Alpha Ursa Major), the name comes from the Arabic expression - "the back of a big bear."
2. Merak (β) - from Arabic "loin" or "groin" ..
3. Fekda (γ) - "thigh".
4. Megrets (δ) - “tail base”. It is the dimmest star among the stars of the Big Dipper.
5. Aliot (ε) - "fat tail". The brightest star in this constellation.
6. Mizar (ζ) - from Arabic - "belt". Near Mizar there is one more star - "Alcor". It is noteworthy that the ability to distinguish between these two stars is a consequence of good vision (with myopia no more than 1 diopter).
7. Benetnash (η) or otherwise - Alkaid. The third brightest star of the Big Dipper. “Al-Qaed Banat Our” is translated from Arabic as “the 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 bucket with a handle. Each star has its own name. At the top of the bucket, opposite to the handle, there is a star called Dubhe... She is the second brightest among her cosmic counterparts. It is a multiple star. That is, several stars from Earth are seen as one due to the close distance to each other.

In this case, we are dealing with 3 stars. The largest of these is the red giant. That is, the nucleus 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 a black hole. The other two stars are main sequence stars, that is, the same as our Sun.

On a 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 because of the huge 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 the star of the Main Sequence. The upper point of the bucket located opposite it is called Megrets... She is the dimmest in a friendly company. This star is almost 1.5 times larger than ours and 14 times brighter.

There is a star in the initial part of the handle Aliot... She 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 is another luminary, which is called Alcor. Anyone with a good eyesight... They say that in ancient times, along Alcor, they tested the visual acuity of young youths who aspired to become seafarers. If a young man could see this star next to Mizar, then he was enlisted 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 the Earth, with the naked eye, you can see only a large bright point and a small one that is nearby. These are the surprises that space sometimes brings.

And finally, the most extreme star. It is called Benetnashor Alkaid... All these names are taken from the Arabic language. 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 luminary is the third brightest after Aliot and Dubhe. It ranks 35th among the brightest stars in the sky.

The brightest stars of the Big Dipper

Other objects of the Big Dipper

In addition to the Big Dipper, in the constellation Ursa Major, you can also observe an asterism called "Three Jumps of a Gazelle", which looks like three pairs of stars.

These are the following pairs:

1. Alula North South (ν and ξ),
2. Tania North and South (λ and μ),
3. Talita North and South (ι and κ).

Near Alupa Severnaya there is a red dwarf named Laland 21185, which is elusive for observation with the naked eye. However, it is the sixth closest star system to the Sun. Closer to the stars Sirius A and B.

Fans of observational astronomy are well aware that this constellation contains the galaxy M101 (called Pinwheel), as well as the galaxies M81 and M82. The latter two form the core of what is probably the closest group of galaxies located about 7 million light years away. Unlike these distant objects, the astronomical body M 97 ("Owl") is located within the Milky Way, hundreds of times closer. Owl is one of the largest planetary nebulae.

In the middle, between the first and second "leap of the gazelle", with the help of optics, you can see a small yellow dwarf, similar to our Sun at number 47. From 2000 to 2010, scientists discovered three exoplanets, gas giants, orbiting around it. Also, this star system is one of the most similar to the solar system and ranks 72nd in the list of candidates for the search for planets similar to Earth, carried out as part of NASA's planned Terrestrial Planet Finder mission. So for an amateur astronomy, the constellation is of great interest.

In 2013 and 2016, two of the galaxies farthest from us were discovered in the constellation, respectively z8 GND 5296 and GN-z11. The light from these galaxies, recorded by scientists, was 13.02 (z8 GND 5296) and 13.4 (GN-z11) billion years.

This is how you can characterize the constellation Ursa Major, known since ancient times. This space region also encompasses many galaxies. For example, the Pinwheel galaxy. It is better known as M 101. It is larger than the Milky Way in size. Its detailed pictures were taken by the Hubble telescope at the beginning of the XXI century. It takes 8 million light years to get to this huge cluster of stars.

The Owl Nebula is also of interest. It enters our galaxy and looks like 2 dark spots located nearby. In 1848 Lord Ross considered these spots to be like owl eyes. Hence the name came from. This nebula is about 6 thousand years old, and from the solar system it is located at a distance of 2300 light years.

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 named 47UMa. It is a yellow dwarf, and its planetary system is very similar to our solar system. At least, to date, 3 planets are known orbiting this star. In 2003, a radio message was sent to him. Earthlings are persistently looking for brothers in mind, and the stubborn are always lucky.

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's bucket. Although it is not far from the North Star, it is still not close enough to it to be at the same point in the sky all the time.

The Big Dipper is easiest to spot in autumn and winter. At this time, in the evenings, asterism is located in the north, not high above the horizon and in our usual position.

By the end of winter, the position of the Big Dipper in the evening sky changes. The seven stars of the ladle are shifted to the east, and the Big Dipper itself stands upright on the handle.

There is nothing surprising. Recall that every day all the stars describe circles around the pole of the world, reflecting the rotation of the Earth around its axis. But over the course of a year, the stars make another additional circle, thereby reflecting the movement of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun. The stars of the Big Dipper are no exception - moving from the bottom point, the bucket seems to rears up.

In mid-spring, the Big Dipper is at its zenith in the evenings, right above your head! At this time, he is in an inverted position in relation to the North Star. Her bucket faces west and her bucket handle faces east.

For those who live north of Moscow, the most difficult thing is to find the Big Dipper in the sky in the summer, during the period short nights... At this time, the constellation is in the west, and the bucket is tilted down and looks north.

How to find the North Star by the Big Dipper?

Now let's see how to find the North Star using the Big Dipper. This is done simply. Take the two outermost stars in the bucket, Dubhe and Merak (alpha and beta Ursa Major) and mentally connect them with a line. And then extend this line by five times the Merak-Dubhe distance.

You will see a star whose brightness is approximately equal to that of the bucket stars. This is the famous Polar Star, the "iron nail" as the Kazakhs called it, meaning the immobility of the Polar Star in the earthly firmament.

Knowing the position of the North Star, you can easily navigate in space. Draw a plumb line down from Polar. The place of its intersection with the horizon will point to the north. The rest of the cardinal points are easy to find: east will be on the right, south behind, 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 earliest astronomers in history, some of their round stone "observatories" dating back to the fifth millennium BC. It was the Egyptians who laid the foundations of the system of constellations, which the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, the Greeks, the Arabs, and then modern science borrowed from them. At that dizzyingly distant time, due to the precession of the earth's axis, it was not the North Star that pointed to the north, but the Alpha Dragon (Tuban). Its surroundings, together with the nearest luminaries, were considered by the Egyptians to be a "motionless sky", the habitat of the gods. Instead of a bucket, 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. Hawkeye Horus cut off his limb in revenge for the murder of his father.

China "Carriage of the Shandi Emperor"

Astronomers of 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 annual rotation in Western astrology, which borrowed 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 had already taken its usual place by that time. The seven brightest stars of the Big Dipper are in an honorable proximity to it, within the Purple Fence - one of the three Fences that surround the palace of the "royal" star. They could be described as the North Bucket, orientated according to the season, or as part of the Heavenly Emperor Shandi's wagon.

India "Seven Wise Men"

Observational astronomy in ancient India did not develop as brilliantly as, say, mathematics. Her performances were greatly influenced by both Greece and China - for example, 27-28 "stations" (nakshatras), through which the Moon passes in about a month, are very reminiscent of the Chinese lunar "houses". The Hindus also attached great importance to the North Star, which, according to Vedic scholars, is the abode of Vishnu himself. The asterism of the Bucket located under it was considered the saptarish - 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 the 48 constellations listed in Ptolemy's star catalog around 140 BC, although it was first mentioned much earlier, even by Homer. Tangled greek myths offer different prehistories of its appearance, although everyone agrees that the bear is the beautiful Callisto, the companion of the hunter goddess Artemis. According to one version, using his usual tricks with reincarnation, the loving Zeus seduced her, causing the anger of both his wife Hera and Artemis herself. Rescuing 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. The supreme god had to intervene again. Preventing matricide, he lifted both of them to heaven.

America "Great Bear"

It seems that the Indians understood something about wild animals: in the legend of the Iroquois about the origin of asterism, the "heavenly bear" has no tail. The three stars forming the handle of the bucket are three hunters chasing the beasts: 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 kindle the hearth. In the fall, when the Bucket turns around and sinks low towards the horizon, blood from the wounded bear drips down, painting the trees in variegated colors.

• The closest of the bright stars of the Big Dipper– star South Alula or xi Big Dipper. It is a beautiful double star that can be split into components with a telescope with a lens over 80mm. Both components are similar in their characteristics to the Sun and each of them also has a companion - a cold 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. And farthest from the bright stars of the constellation is the red giant μ Ursa Major, one of the stars in the front "paw" of the Dipper. The distance to it is 249 light years.
• The constellation Ursa Major is depicted on the flag of Alaska. The flag of the 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 radical left organizations.
• Ursa Major can be admired during the day. This can be easily 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 in large zoom.
• Needless to say that the huge constellation Ursa Major is a real treasure for a true lover of astronomy ?! This section of the sky contains a huge number of attractions available for observation with small telescopes: binary and variable stars, several bright galaxies and dozens of weaker galaxies, an open star cluster and even a planetary nebula. There is no way to fit the descriptions of these objects into one article. Therefore, we decided to publish separate articles on the observation of the sights of the Big Dipper.