The constellation of the Big Dipper and the Little Ursa in the sky: a list of stars, how to find, legends and description

There are quite a lot of different constellations. Some of them are known to everyone. Only a small part of people knows about others. But there is a congestion of night lights, which is known to everyone. In this article, we will consider how the Big Dipper and Malaya are located. Constellations are characterized by a large number of legends. And some of them will also be told. It is necessary to tell about the most famous and brightest luminaries, which can be seen in this quite popular congestion.

The night sky always draws attention to itself

Starry sky, Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Andromeda, Southern Cross ... What can be more beautiful and majestic? Millions of stars shine and sparkle, luring inquisitive minds to themselves. Man always looked for his place in the Universe, wondering how the world works, where his place is in it, he was created by the gods or he himself is a divine essence. Sitting at night by the fire and looking into the distant sky, people have learned one simple truth - the stars are not ugly strewn across the sky. They have their legal place.

Every night the stars remained the same, in the same place. Today, any adult knows that the stars are located at different distances from the earth. But, looking at the sky, we can not say which luminaries are located further, and which are closer. Our ancestors could distinguish them only by the brightness of the glow. They singled out a small fraction of the brightest stars, formed a group of stars into characteristic figures, calling them constellations. In modern astrology, 88 constellations are distinguished in the starry sky. We knew no more than 50 of our ancestors.

Called the constellations in different ways, associating them with the names of objects (Libra, Southern Cross, Triangle). The luminaries were given the names of the heroes of the Greek myths (Andromeda, Perseus Cassiopeia), the Stars wore the names of real or non-existent animals (Leo, Dragon, Big and Little Dipper). In ancient times, people fully manifested their imagination, approaching the question of naming the celestial bodies thoroughly. And there is nothing strange in the fact that the names have not changed to this day.

The stars in the Dipper cluster

The constellation of the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper in the starry sky is rightfully considered the most famous and recognizable of the cluster of stars in the northern hemisphere. As we know from childhood, the stars of the Big Dipper make up a scoop in the sky - a luminary of a recognizable shape and with an established name. This accumulation of night, celestial bodies is by right the third largest in its magnitude. On the first positions are such constellations as Virgo and Hydra. In total there are 125 stars in the Big Bear. All of them can be discerned with the naked eye. The bucket forms seven brightest stars. Each of them has its own name.

Let us turn our attention to the constellation Ursa Major. It is impossible to imagine the world of the cosmos without it. Among the stars of this cluster can be identified:

1. Dubche - in translation means "bear". This is the brightest star of the Big Dipper.
2. Merak is the second brightest star. It is translated as a "loin".
3. Fekda - in translation means "thigh".
4. Megrec - translated as "the beginning of the tail."
5. Aliot - in translation means "kurdyuk."
6. Mizar - translated as "loincloth".
7. Benetnash - translated literally, as "the leader of mourners."

This is only part of the stars that make up the famous congestion.

The movement of the constellation in the sky

Find in the sky constellation Ursa Major and Ursa Minor fairly easily. It is best seen in March and April. On fresh spring nights, we can discover the Big Dipper just above our head. The luminaries are high in the sky. However, after the first half of April, the accumulation of celestial bodies goes to the west. In the summer months, the constellation slowly moves to the north-west. And at the end of August you can see the bucket very low in the north. There he will be until the winter. During the winter period, the Big Dipper will rise again beyond the horizon, re-starting its movement from north to north-east.

The change in the position of the stars as a function of time of day

Focus on how the location of the constellations of the Great and Little Dipper changes throughout the day. For example, in February, at night, we see a ladle with a handle down, located in the northeast, and the next morning the constellation will move to the northwest. The handle will then turn upwards.

Interestingly, five stars inside the ladle make up one group and move apart from the other two stars. Dubha and Benetnash slowly go in the opposite direction from the other five lights. It follows that in the near future the bucket will assume a completely different appearance. But we will not see this, as a significant change will become noticeable in about a hundred thousand years.

Secret of the stars Mizar and Alcor

In the cluster of stars of the Big Dipper there is a fascinating star couple - Mizar and Alcor. What is it interesting? In ancient times, these two stars tested the severity of human vision. Mizar is the average star in the bucket of the Big Dipper. Next to her is the barely discernible Alcor star. A person who has good vision will see these two stars without problems, and vice versa, a person with poor eyesight will not distinguish between the two luminaries in the sky. They will appear to him as one bright spot in the sky. But these two stars conceal in themselves a couple of amazing mysteries.

The unarmed eye does not see the features inherent in them. If you direct the telescope to Mizar, you can see two instead of one star. They were conditionally designated Mizar A and Mizar B. But that's not all. With spectral analysis, it turned out that Mizar A consists of two stars, and Mizar B - of three. Unfortunately, these night luminaries are so far from the ground that no optical devices are able to reach them so that they can completely reveal the secret.

Stars from the Ursa Minor cluster

Two stars in the bucket wall are also called Pointers. This name Merak and Dubha received because, after passing through them a straight line, we rest on the polar star from the constellation of the Little Bear. This cluster of night lights is also called circumpolar. List of stars of the constellation of the Ursa Major includes 25 titles. They can be seen with the naked eye. It is necessary to select from them those that are popular. In addition, they are the brightest.

Star Kochab. In the period from 3000 BC to 600 AD, this star appeared as a landmark for seafarers, which includes the constellation of the Little Bear. The polar star indicates the direction to the North Pole. Also known luminaries of the cluster is the Farkad and Yildun.

For a long time there was no common name

The constellation of the Little Ursa is shaped like a bucket, almost like the Great Bear. The Phoenicians, some of the best seafarers of ancient times, used such a cluster of stars for navigational purposes. But the Greek navigators were more oriented around the Big Dipper. The Arabs saw in the Little Bear a rider, the Indians are a monkey, which is tailed by the center of the world and is spinning around it. As you can see, there was no common meaning and name for a long time, and each nationality saw something of its own in the starry sky, close and easily explainable. What else can tell us about the constellation Ursa Major?

Legends of the constellation. Star Dubke

About the accumulation of the stars of Ursa Major and the Little Ursa is a huge number of legends and legends.

About the brightest star of Dubha from the constellation of the Great Bear goes the following belief. The daughter of the king of 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 the boy Arkas. For this jealous wife of Zeus, Hera turned Callisto into a bear. When Arkas grew up and became a hunter, he attacked the bear's track and was already preparing to hit the beast with an arrow. Zeus, seeing what was happening, did not allow killing. It was he who turned Arkas into a smaller bear. The Lord of Heaven placed them in the firmament, so that the mother and son would always remain together.

The Legend of a Small Cluster of Stars

There is a legend of the constellation of the Little Dipper. It looks like this. Saving his son Zeus from his father the Greek god Kronos, who was famous for devouring his children, his wife Ray had stolen a small child and carried him to the caves. In addition to the goat, the baby was nourished by two nymphs - Melissa and Helis. For this they were awarded. Zeus, when he became the ruler of heaven, turned them into bears and placed them in the firmament.

The legend of the appearance of the constellation according to the version of the storytellers from Greenland

In distant Greenland, there is also a legend, in which the constellation Big Dipper appears. Mythology and the history of this cluster are quite popular. But the most popular among the Eskimos acquired one story, which is told absolutely everything. It was even suggested that this legend is not fiction, but the purest truth. In a snowy house, on the very edge of Greenland, lived the great hunter Eriulok. I lived alone in the hut, because I was arrogant, considering myself to be the best in my business. Therefore, he did not want to communicate with other fellow tribesmen. For many years he went to sea and always returned with a rich booty. In his house there was always a lot of food, sealed fat, and the walls of his home were adorned with the best skins of walruses, seals and seals. Eriulok was rich, full, but alone. And loneliness began to weigh down the great hunter. He tried to make friends with his fellow Eskimos, but they did not want to have affairs with an arrogant congenitor. Apparently, he strongly offended them in due time.

In desperation, Eriulok went to the Arctic Ocean and called to the lady of the sea depths, the goddess Arnarkuccsak. He told her about himself and his trouble. The goddess promised to help, but instead Eriulok was to bring her a ladle with magic berries that would restore the goddess's youth. Hunter agreed and went to a distant island, found a cave guarded by a bear. After much suffering, he lulled the forest beast and stole a bucket with berries. The goddess did not deceive the hunter and gave him his wife, and in return received the magic berries. After all the adventures, Eriulok married and became the father of a large family, envious of all the neighbors in the district. As for the goddess, she ate all the berries, looked younger for a couple of hundred centuries, and on joys threw an empty bucket on the sky, where he, clinging to something, and remained hanging.

A touching legend of good and evil

There is another extremely touching legend, in which the constellation Ursa Major and the Little Dipper is affected. In distant and distant times, among the hills and ravines, there was an ordinary village. In this settlement lived a large family, and in it the daughter of Ain grew. The goodness of this girl was not anyone in the neighborhood. One morning, on the road leading to the village, a dark cart appeared. Black horses were going to the harness. A man was sitting on a cart, and his clothes were of a dark color. He smiled broadly, had fun and sometimes laughed. On the cart was a dark cage, in which, chained by a chain, was a white bear cub. Great tears rolled from the animal's eyes. Many villagers began to resent it: is not it shameful for such a big dark man to keep a small white bear on the chain, torment and mock him. People, though outraged, but beyond the words it did not go.

And only when the cart came up to the house where Aina lived, a kind girl stopped her. Aina asked to release the bear cub. The stranger laughed and said that he would let go if someone gave the bear cub their eyes. None of the residents thought of doing this, except Aina. The black man agreed to release the bear cub in exchange for the girl's eyes. And Aina lost her sight. A white bear cub emerged from the cage and tears from his eyes ceased to flow. The cart, along with the horses and the black man, melted in the air, and the white bear cub remained in its place. He went to Aina, who was crying, gave her a rope tied to his collar in her hands, and led the girl through fields, meadows. Residents of the village, watching them, saw how a white bear cub turns into a Big Bear, and Aina turns into a small white bear, and they go to the sky together. Since that time, people see them walking together in the sky. They are always in the sky and remind people of good and evil. Such an instructive legend is famous for the constellation of the Great Bear and the Little Bear.

Because of progress, the halo of mystery has disappeared

As in antiquity, and at the present time, the constellations help us navigate in space. Travelers and sailors can, by the brightness and location of the constellations, know the time, find the direction of movement, etc. Now we are less likely to sit by the fire, less often look at the mysterious, star-studded sky, and no longer compose legends about Big and Little Dipper, Cassiopeia, Canes. Very few people can immediately show the constellation of the Great and Little Dipper. We know from the lessons of astronomy that the stars are very far away, and this is in most of the planet, similar to our Sun.

The development of optical telescopes led to a number of discoveries about which our ancestors knew nothing. What can I say, a man could even visit the moon, take samples of the lunar soil and successfully return back. Science blown away the veils of uncertainty and mystery that covered the heavenly bodies for centuries. And still we furtively look to the sky, looking for this or that constellation, and we see in them not the cold stars, but the white Bear, or the formidable Leo, or Cancer, crawling along the heavenly surface. Therefore, many like to admire the clear from the clouds of the night sky, which clearly shows a variety of luminaries, their combinations with each other and congestion.

Conclusion

In this review, the constellations of the Great and Little Dipper were considered. In the sky they are easy to find. And, most likely, everyone in his time tried to do it. And some even now, looking at the sky at night, trying to locate the bucket.

We hope that this review told you a lot about this known to all the cluster: what does the constellation Big and Little Dipper look like, what stars are included in its composition, what legends are characterized, etc.