The Constellation Ursa Major - The Big Dipper

The Constellation Series

Ursa Major (The Big Dipper)

It is also called, Larger She-Bear, Great Bear, Charles Wain, the Plough, Großer Wagen in Germany & Austria and Saptarshi in India.
The ancient Greeks called it, The Bear & the Wagon
The ancient Romans called it, The Great Bear & Seven Plowing Oxen (Septentriones)
The Europeans called it, The Plow, Charlemagne's Wain, & The Wagon
The Hindus called it,  The Seven Holy Sages (Rishis)

The ancients have been talking about this constellation for 13,000 years. Paleontologists studying the Paleolithic Era believe the oral story may say, "There is an animal that is a horned herbivore, especially an elk. One human pursues this ungulate. The hunt locates or get to the sky. The animal is alive when it is transformed into a constellation. It forms the Big Dipper".

Ursa Major is steeped in myth. Many diverse civilizations have attached different meanings to this constellation, one of the most accessible star systems in the sky. The Iroquois Native American Indians construed Alioth, Alkaid  and Mizar, as three brave huntsman tracking the Great Bear. One the slayer, one the chef and the last to light the fire under the great pot. The first hunter, named Alioth, is armed with a great bow and arrow, the second hunter, named Mizar lugs a huge pot on his shoulder (which symbolizes the star Alcor) and finally, while the third hunter, named Alkaid heaves a pile of firewood.

In Hinduism, the constellation Ursa Major is identified as Saptarshi, each of the stars depicting one of the "Saptarshis" or the Seven Sages Atri, Angirasa, Bhrigu, Kratu, Pulastya, Pulalaha and Vasishta. Lord Vishnu gives the boy sage named Dhruva a boon to point toward the pole star.

In Finnish language, the asterism is called by its ancient, practically obsolete Finnish name, Otava, which means "a salmon weir". Ancient Finns thought the bear, Ursus arctos, was set in a golden basket and lowered to Earth by way Ursa Major. When the bear was slayed and beheaded, his head was situated on a tree to permit the bear's soul to return back to Ursa Major.

One of the few star clusters or constellations cited in the Christian Bible is Job 9:9; 38:32.

The Jewish peoples also connected the visage of a bear, translated into "Arcturus" with Ursa Major. This reference was cited in the Vulgate and in the KJV.

In Theosophy, it is thought that the Seven Stars of the Pleiades hone in on the spiritual energy of the Seven Rays of the Galactic Logos to the Seven Stars of the Great Bear, then to Sirius, then to the Sun, then to the god of Earth, Sanat Kumara, and finally through the seven Masters of the Seven Rays to the human race.

In Javanese, Ursa major is understood as "Bintang Kartika", which comes from Sanskrit. The believed the brightest of the seven stars are Lintang Wuluh, meaning "seven stars". These stars represented the time to plant crops.

To the South Koreans, Ursa Major is thought of as "the seven stars of the north". An old widow with 7 sons fell for a widower, but to get to his house it was mandatory she cross a stream. The 7 kind boys, happy their mother found love, secretly set several stepping stones across in the river. Their mother, unaware of who kindly placed the stones, blessed them for what they did. When the sons became elderly and died, they turned into the constellation, Ursa Major. That is such a sweet story, isn't it?

In Shinto, the 7 biggest stars of Ursa Major belong to Amenominakanushi, the oldest and most powerful of all kami.

The Lakota peoples call the constellation "Great Bear," or Wičhákhiyuhapi.

And finally, according to Roman mythology, Jupiter, the king of the gods (not to be confused with Greek mythology where Zeus is the king of the gods), romantically pursues a beautiful young woman named Callisto, a nymph of goddess Diana. Jupiter's envious wife Juno turns the beautiful Callisto into a giant bear. Callisto, in bear form, eventually stumbles upon her son Arcas. Seeing a bear and not his mother, he almost kills the bear. Jupiter had to stop such a thing from happening, so he turned the son into a bear as well and set them both in the heavens, forming Ursa Major (the mother bear) and Ursa Minor (the little bear). Callisto and Arcas are together forever.

It is also known as "Three Leaps of Gazelle" in Arab culture, which is a series of three pairs of stars: The "First Leap" is ν and ξ, Ursae Majoris, Alula Borealis, and Australis; the "Second Leap" is λ and μ Ursae Majoris, Tania Borealis and Australis; and the "Third Leap" is ι and κ Ursae Majoris, Talitha Borealis and Australis.

It contains these stars: Dubhe ("the bear"), at a magnitude of 1.79 is the 35th brightest star in the sky and the 2nd brightest of Ursa Major. Merak ("the loins of the bear"), with a magnitude of 2.37. Phecda ("thigh"), with a magnitude of 2.44. Megrez, meaning "root of the tail." Alioth, which refers not to a bear but to a "black horse." Mizar, the constellation's 4th brightest star, which means "girdle." Alkaid or Benetnash, both meaning the "end of the tail," a magnitude of 1.85, and is the  3rd brightest star of Ursa Major. This "Ursa Major Moving Group" heads toward a common point in the Constellation Sagittarius. In addition, Ursa Major has many deep sky objects.

Six of its seven stars are of  the 2nd magnitude, and boasting only one central star of 3rd magnitude. The Kappa Ursae Majorids  meteor shower has been just recently been discovered and peaks November 1 and November 10.

It can be seen best in the month of April, this big constellation can be seen all year long.

Big Dipper's Stars: It contains seven stars; one third magnitude and six second magnitude stars (two of which are called the Pointers, alpha (á) and beta (â) Ursa Major). It also contains Mizar, or zeta (î) Ursa Major, a double star discovered in 1889. In 1908, the additional component was found to be a spectroscopic double.

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