What does ursa major look like

It is a white star and is around 60 light-years from Earth. After Megrez we have the star Dubhe , completing the top frame of the dipper. Merak is the star that outlines the bottom of the dipper.

Phecda or also known as Gamma Ursae Majoris completes the bottom frame of the dipper. Phecda is a white star with a magnitude of 2. Muscida is the star that is located at the head of the bear. This star is also known as Omicron Ursae Majoris. It is a yellow giant star with a distance of around light-years from earth. It is referred to as Lota Ursae Majoris.

This star is a four-star system. It contains two pairs of binary stars that are roughly 45 light-years away from earth.

Tania Borealis is a white star that is about light-years from the earth. Tania Australis is a red giant star around light-years from earth. The Alula Borealis is an orange giant with a distance of around light-years from earth. Alula Australis is a four-star system. It consists of two pairs of binary stars. These stars are 30 light-years from our earth. The main stars in this system are like sun stars.

The other ones are considered to be red dwarfs. Ursa Major contains seven Messier objects that are located within and around the constellation. The Ursa Major constellation also contains 13 stars within it that are confirmed as planets. There are two meteor showers associated with the constellation; the Alpha Ursa Majorids and the Leonids-Ursids. Ursa Major constellation belongs to the Ursa Major family of constellations. M81, M82, and NGC can be seen in this photo view larger version.

Ursa Major is the third largest constellation in the sky. It occupies an area of square degrees. Ursa Major is located in the second quadrant of the northern hemisphere.

The best time to see this constellation is in the spring. At this time Ursa Major is high above the north-eastern horizon. The eight neighboring constellations to the Great Bear are Draco to the north and northeast.

Canes Venatici to the east and southeast. Coma Berenices to the southeast. Leo and Leo Minor to the south. Lynx to the southwest and Camelopardalis to the northwest. From southern temperate latitudes, the Big Dipper is unable to be seen. However, some of the southern parts of the constellation can be seen. The Great Bear is one of the oldest constellations in the night sky. It can be dated back up to 13, years. It is mentioned in the Bible and also found in the works of the Greek author Homer.

In Greek mythology, the constellation is associated with the myth of Callisto. Callisto was the beautiful nymph who had sworn a vow of chastity to the goddess Artemis. One day Zeus saw the nymph and the two fell in love. Zeus and Callisto had a son named Arcas. Callisto lived as a bear for 15 years, until she came face to face with her son Arcas.

Arcas quickly drew his spear but before he could attack Zeus intervened to prevent disaster. Zeus sent a whirlwind that lifted Callisto and Arcas into the heavens.

Callisto became Ursa Major. Among the Greek myths there are different versions of this tale. Another asserts that it is Artemis who transforms Callisto into a bear as punishment for breaking her vow of chastity. Many years later, Callisto along with Arcas become captured in a forest. They are imprisoned and taken to King Lycaon as a gift. The prophecy eventually came true; Zeus overthrew Cronus and freed his brothers Hades and Poseidon and sisters Demeter, Hera and Hestia.

Ursa Major is associated with many different forms in the sky in different cultures, from the camel, shark and skunk to the sickle, bushel and canoe. In Hindu legend, the brightest stars of Ursa Major represent the Seven Sages and the constellation is known as Saptarshi. In some Native American tales, the bowl of the Big Dipper represents a large bear and the stars that mark the handle are the warriors chasing it.

Since the constellation is pretty low in the sky in autumn, the legend says that it is the blood of the wounded bear that causes the leaves to turn red. In more recent American history, the Big Dipper played a role in the Underground Railroad, as its position in the sky helped black people find their way north. Ursa Major is the third largest constellation in the sky, occupying an area of square degrees. It also contains 13 stars with confirmed planets. The brightest star in the constellation is Alioth , Epsilon Ursae Majoris, with an apparent magnitude of 1.

The constellation Ursa Major contains 22 formally named stars. There are two meteor showers associated with the constellation; the Alpha Ursa Majorids and the Leonids-Ursids. The Big Dipper is one of the most recognizable asterisms in the sky. It has significance in many different cultures.

If you follow the imaginary line from Merak to Dubhe and continue the arc, you will eventually reach the Northern Star. If you follow the line further, you will find Spica , the brightest star in the constellation Virgo and also one of the brightest stars in the sky. Alioth is the brightest star in Ursa Major and the 31st brightest star in the night sky. It has an apparent magnitude of 1. Alioth belongs to the Ursa Major Moving Group Collinder , a group of stars that includes most of the brightest stars in the constellation Ursa Major.

The stars belonging to the group share common velocities in space and are believed to have a common origin. Proctor, who realized that all stars of the Big Dipper with the exception of Alkaid and Dubhe have proper motions heading toward a common point in the constellation Sagittarius. Alioth belongs to the spectral class A0pCr. Alioth exhibits fluctuations in its spectral lines with a period of 5.

Dubhe has an apparent magnitude of 1. It is the second brightest star in Ursa Major. It is a spectroscopic binary star. The companion is a main sequence star that belongs to the spectral type F0 V. It completes the orbit around the brighter star every There is another binary system about 90, AU away from the main pair, which makes Alpha Ursae Majoris a four star system. Beta Ursae Majoris is a main sequence star, approximately It belongs to the spectral class A1 V.

The star has a debris disk of dust orbiting it, one with a mass 0. Beta Ursae Majoris is 2. It belongs to the Ursa Major Moving Group and is a suspected variable star. Alkaid is the easternmost star in the Big Dipper asterism. It is also known as Elkeid and Benetnash. It is a young main sequence star belonging to the spectral class B3 V, approximately light years distant. Alkaid is notable for being one of the hottest stars that can be seen without binoculars. It has a surface temperature of 20, kelvins.

The star has six solar masses and is about times more luminous than the Sun. The name Alkaid itself means leader. Gamma Ursae Majoris is the lower left star in the bowl of the Big Dipper. It belongs to the Ursa Major Moving Group. Gamma UMa is a main sequence star of the spectral type A0 Ve. It has a visual magnitude of 2. The star is located only 8.

Megrez, Delta Ursae Majoris, is the faintest of the seven bright stars that form the Big Dipper asterism.

It is a main sequence star of the spectral type A3 V. It has a visual magnitude of 3. The star emits an excess of infrared radiation, which indicates a debris disk in its orbit. Zeta Ursae Majoris is a system composed of two binary stars.

Mizar has an apparent magnitude of 2. It was the first double star ever to be photographed. Early American photographer and inventor John A. Whipple and astronomer George P. Bond took the photo of the binary system in using a wet collodion plate and the inch refractor telescope at Harvard College Observatory. Bond had previously also photographed the star Vega in Lyra constellation in Alcor is a visual companion to Mizar.

It belongs to the spectral class A5V. Alcor has a visual magnitude of 3. Alcor was discovered to be a binary system in The estimated distance between the two stars is 1. It is a binary system composed of two close stars in a circular orbit with a period of 0.

The stars are physically so close that their outer envelopes are in direct contact. Each star orbits the other during each orbital cycle, resulting in a decrease in brightness.

The apparent magnitude of the system varies between 7. Both stars belong to the spectral class F8V. Winnecke 4 is another double star in Ursa Major.

It was originally catalogued as a Messier object by Charles Messier in , while he was looking for a nebula that Johann Hevelius reported seeing in the region.

Not finding the nebula, Messier catalogued the binary star instead. The German astronomer Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke rediscovered the star in , and it was subsequently named after him.

Winnecke 4 has an apparent magnitude that varies between 9. It is It has an apparent magnitude of 5. In , a planet at least 2. Two more planets were discovered in the system in and Nu Ursae Majoris is another double star, one visible to the unaided eye. It has an apparent magnitude of 3. Xi Ursae Majoris is composed of two main sequence dwarfs belonging to the spectral class G0 Ve. The system is only 29 light years distant. The brighter component has an apparent magnitude of 4.

The combined visual magnitude of the system is 3. The spots in turn cause variations in luminosity around 0. In some cases, the fluctuations in brightness are caused by the stars being eclipsing binaries. Each of the two main components in the Xi Ursae Majoris system is itself a spectroscopic double, and has a low mass companion.

Xi Ursae Majoris is also notable for being the first binary star to have its orbit calculated, in Lambda Ursae Majoris is a star belonging to the spectral class A2 IV, which means that it is evolving into a giant as its hydrogen supply becomes exhausted.

The star has an apparent magnitude of 3. Mu Ursae Majoris, or Tania Australis, is the southern star of the pair. It is a red giant, belonging to the spectral type M0 lab, approximately light years away. Mu Ursae Majoris has a visual companion about 1. Iota Ursae Majoris is a star system composed of two double stars, a white subgiant of the spectral type A7 IV that is in fact a spectroscopic binary, and another pair of 9th and 10th magnitude stars.

When the B component was first discovered in , the two binary stars were separated by The distance between the two has decreased dramatically since, and is now only 4. The two components orbit each other with a period of years. Iota Ursae Majoris is approximately