Big and Little Dippers: Everything you need to know...
This is a very interesting article from "Earth Sky". I hope they do not mind that I share it here> |
| Big Dipper at different times |
Kochab and Pherkad guard the North Celestial Pole
In Thales’s day ( c. 620 BCE – c. 546 BCE) , the stars
Kochab and Pherkad (rather than Polaris) marked the approximate direction of
the north celestial pole – the point in the sky that is directly above the
Earth’s North Pole. http://earthsky.org/.../kochab-and-pherkad-guard-the...
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| Kochab and Pherkad |
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| Ursa Major and the Big Dipper |
GREEK MYTHOLOGY About the Ursa Major or the Great Bear
The Big Dipper is actually just part of a bigger constellation called Ursa Major, or the Great Bear. In Greek mythology, the god Zeus had fallen in love with the maiden Callisto, and got her pregnant. When the child was born, as revenge, Zeus' wife Hera turned Callisto into a bear. Callisto wandered the forest for years in bear form, until a chance meeting with her son, Arcas, who raised his spear to strike at the bear. Zeus stepped in and sent them up to the heavens -- Callisto as the Great Bear and Arcas as Bootes the Herdsman (or Ursa Minor -- the Little Bear -- depending on the story!).
Hera was not pleased by this, however, and conspired with the gods of the sea so that the Bear could never swim in the ocean; this is why Ursa Major never sets.
The Big Dipper is actually just part of a bigger constellation called Ursa Major, or the Great Bear. In Greek mythology, the god Zeus had fallen in love with the maiden Callisto, and got her pregnant. When the child was born, as revenge, Zeus' wife Hera turned Callisto into a bear. Callisto wandered the forest for years in bear form, until a chance meeting with her son, Arcas, who raised his spear to strike at the bear. Zeus stepped in and sent them up to the heavens -- Callisto as the Great Bear and Arcas as Bootes the Herdsman (or Ursa Minor -- the Little Bear -- depending on the story!).
Hera was not pleased by this, however, and conspired with the gods of the sea so that the Bear could never swim in the ocean; this is why Ursa Major never sets.
Things to remember:
- The Big Dipper is circumpolar, so it is visible year round. But it is highest in the sky in Spring.
- The pointer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper always point to Polaris, the North Star.
- Mizar is an optical double star -- try it!
Source: http://burro.astr.cwru.edu/Academics/Astr201/Spring/Spring.html