Ursa Major (dipper) in autumn: photo

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Since ancient times, people have been watching the night sky. There is something invariably attractive in the process of contemplating a clear moon and distant stars. All this makes the soul feel good and peaceful.

An inquisitive observer will sooner or later begin to find patterns in the sky - bizarre clusters of stars that form various shapes. The constellation Ursa Major will not escape his attention. We will consider it in detail in our article.

Ursa Major in the view of ancient people

Ursa Major is one of the oldest constellations in the night sky. Almost all peoples in the culture have references to this amazing cluster of stars.

The Hindus were the first to pay attention to him, giving the beautiful name "Sapta Rishi", which means "seven wise men" in Sanskrit. In Chinese astronomy, the constellation was called the "Northern Dipper". resourcefulthe Chinese began to use it to keep time.

The most interesting explanation for the beautiful cluster of stars in the sky was found by the Greeks. Of course, a myth is dedicated to the Big Dipper. It says that the imperious Zeus fell in love with the beautiful nymph Callisto. The imperious goddess Hera, the wife of Zeus, did not like this. To save a beautiful girl from the revenge of her powerful wife, the God of Thunder turned her into a Bear and sent her to live in heaven. Now the beautiful Callisto pleases all lovers of the starry sky with her soft shimmering radiance.

Glowing bucket in the night sky

Now consider the Big Dipper bucket. It is most beautiful in autumn. From a scientific point of view, the constellation is the third largest after Hydra and Virgo. Its size is 1280 square degrees. Ursa Major (bucket, photo of which is presented below) has a visible part of seven bright stars. Let's list them:

• Dubhe - Bear;
• Merak - Loin;
• Fekda - Thigh;
• Megretz – Beginning of tail;
• Aliot - Kurdyuk;
• Mizar - Loincloth;
• Benetour is the leader of the mourners.

All names are Arabic and mean 7 bright stars that form the legendary Bucket.

Location in the firmament

Starry sky is unthinkable without the constellation Ursa Major. The bucket in autumn is located in the northern part of the sky. It can be observed between 3-4 am above the northeastern horizon. A good guideline would bea pen pointing to the location of the sunrise.

Ursa Major - the path to knowledge of astronomy

Beginners need to learn how to find the Ursa Major bucket in the fall (photo of the constellation is below). This cluster of stars is one of the most visible in the night sky. Such an exercise will be a good preparation for young astronomy lovers for a more detailed study of the starry sky, namely:

• to finding less visible constellations in the sky. Advanced astronomers use the Big Dipper as a guide to find other stars;
• to interesting observation of the sky throughout the year. You can see how already familiar stars change their location, where the month rises, etc.;
• to the first calculations. Over time, a person remembers the distance between the corner stars of the bucket;
• to the first skills of working with a manual telescope. In the presence of this, the young observer of the sky will find stars invisible to the ordinary eye. This refers to binary and variable stars, it is possible even to notice the exploding galaxy M82.

Ursa Major: ladle in autumn

The location of the constellations largely depends on the season. The Big Dipper (ladle) in autumn is no exception to the rule.

The autumn sky is not rich in stars. Even the traditionally bright constellation Ursa Major glows dimly. The Big Dipper bucket in autumn is located in the north under the Polar Star; its tail is directed to the west. At the zenith is Cassiopeia.

But in the east it rises highthe constellation Pleiades, under it the bright star Aldebaran, which is located in the constellation Taurus, clearly shines. At this time, two bright stars rise in the northeast: an experienced specialist in the starry sky immediately recognizes Gemini in them.

The constellations Leo and Virgo are hiding behind the Earth, they are not visible at all. To the west of Ursa Major, the barely visible constellation Aquila can be discerned.

So, let's summarize what constellations can be seen in the autumn night sky in its northern part:

• Ursa Major;
• Ursa Minor;
• Gemini;
• Taurus;
• Lyra and Swans.

Geometry of the starry sky

Finding the Big Dipper bucket in autumn, you can get carried away and devote an hour or two to the search for other familiar stars. The most important thing is a sincere desire, and, of course, a map of the night sky will not hurt.

Let's turn our gaze to the southern part of the sky. It is there that Andromeda and Pegasus rise every autumn. In the upper left corner of the sky are the two stars of the first constellation, followed invariably by the three stars of the second.

Andromeda consists of four stars located at a great distance from each other. The constellation itself is located under Cassiopeia. Andromeda is somewhat vaguely reminiscent of the shape of an onion. The latter is directed exactly towards the Pleiades and Taurus. There is even a feeling that an arrow will now fly out of the bow and fly to the left, in the direction of the indicated constellations. But this, of course, is not the case. This is just a fantasy and has nothing to do with the majestic starry sky.

Under Andromeda you can see two small stars - thisAries. And under it, a lot of luminous dots are scattered - this is the constellation of the Whale. You can see Aries and Whale only during clear weather.

In Pegasus, in addition to three bright stars, it is worth remembering two more: they are located to the right. The very figure of Pegasus looks like horns. One gets the impression that they want to hook the Swan.

Picture: Big Dipper bucket in autumn

Nothing is more creative than looking at clear skies. Therefore, it is highly likely that you will be "struck" to engage in some kind of creative activity after contemplating the night luminaries. Someone will want to write a fascinating story about their nightly experience, someone will want to dance to their favorite music, and someone will want to sketch a glowing bucket.

We will talk about the last type of creative activity - about the sketch of the Bear.

Drawing a bucket is elementary, because it's just a geometric figure, consisting of an inverted trapezoid and a broken line. But with the background, location and color of the picture, you can experiment to your taste. Here everyone will have their own vision of the color and location of a bizarre figure on a piece of paper.

Try to put some of your feelings into the drawing, and then it will turn out really interesting. As you can see, drawing a bucket of Ursa Major in autumn is not difficult at all.

Ursa Major in culture

• constellation is an asterism. This term refers to a funeral procession,followed by 2 stars benetnash (2 mourners);
• the oldest name for Ursa Major is "Arktos". It belongs to the prehistoric era of nomadic hunters. This once again confirms that people of all eras loved the starry sky;
• The Big Dipper (Ladle in autumn) is depicted on the flag of Alaska;
• associated with anime. A character from the popular Kenshiro manga wears a bucket scar on his chest. Today, the Russian audience can enjoy the space three-part novella "Fist of the North Star: New Era";
• the Museum of Modern Art has a painting "Big Dipper". It is named so because the cigarettes of people who smoke are arranged in a sequence that forms the figure of the same Bucket.