It is also the brightest star in Ursa Major and the thirty-first brightest star in the sky.Lisa Marder is an artist and educator who studied drawing and painting at Harvard University.
She is an instructor at the South Shore Art Center in Massachusetts when she is not working on her own art. ![]() It is not actually a constellation, but rather an asterism consisting of seven of the brightest stars of the constellation, Ursa Major (Great Bear). Three stars define the handle of the dipper, and four stars define the bowl. The Big Dipper is well-known in many different cultures, although by different names: in England, it is known as the Plough; in Europe, the Great Wagon; in the Netherlands, the Saucepan; in India, it is known as the Saptarishi after the seven ancient holy sages. The Big Dipper is located near the north celestial pole (almost the exact location of the North Star) and is circumpolar in most of the northern hemisphere beginning at 41degrees N. Its counterpart in the southern hemisphere is the Southern Cross. Although the Big Dipper is visible all year in northern latitudes its position in the sky changes - think spring up and fall down. In the spring the Big Dipper rises higher in the northeast part of the sky, but in the autumn it falls lower in the northwestern sky and may even be hard to spot from the southern part of the United States before it sinks below the horizon. To see the Big Dipper completely you need to be north of 25 degrees S. ![]() In the spring it appears high in the sky upside down, in summer it appears to be hanging by the handle, in autumn it appears close to the horizon right side up, in winter it appears to be hanging by the bowl. Because of its prominence, The Big Dipper has played a key role in navigational history, enabling people throughout the centuries to easily locate Polaris, the North Star, and thereby plot their course. To find Polaris, you need only extend an imaginary line from the star at the bottom of the front of the bowl (furthest from the handle), Merak, to the star at the top of the front of the bowl, Dubhe, and beyond until you reach a moderately bright star about five times that distance away. That star is Polaris, the North Star, which is, itself, the end of the handle of the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor) and its brightest star. Merak and Dubhe are known as the Pointers because they always point to Polaris. Using the Big Dipper as a starting point can also help you locate multiple other stars and constellations in the night sky. According to folklore, the Big Dipper was instrumental in helping freedom seekers of the pre-Civil War era from Mobile, Alabama in the southern United States find their way north to the Ohio River and freedom, as portrayed in the American folksong, Follow the Drinking Gourd. The song was originally published in 1928, and then another arrangement by Lee Hays was published in 1947, with the signature line, For the old man is awaiting for to carry you to freedom. Location Of Big Dipper Tonight Code Name ForThe drinking gourd, a water dipper commonly used by enslaved people and other rural Americans, was the code name for the Big Dipper. Although the song has been taken at face value by many, when looked at for historical accuracy there are many weaknesses. Alkaid, Mizar, and Alioth form the handle; Megrez, Phecda, Dubhe, and Merak form the bowl. The brightest star in the Big Dipper is Alioth, at the top of the handle near the bowl.
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