The Bear in the Stars

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The easiest way to find Cygnus is to look for an asterism called the Northern Cross which is a group of stars in a simple cross shape. The other stars in the constellation of Cygnus are extensions of this cross shape. Messier 82 is an edge-on starburst galaxy about 11.5 million light years from the solar system. It has an apparent magnitude of 8.41.

This star is called Polaris and is also known as the North Star. It lies above the North Pole of the Earth and will show you which way north is. All the other stars in the sky appear to orbit this star. It is also the tip of the tail of Ursa Minor, the star at the end of the handle of this smaller saucepan. Ancient Greeks associated the constellation with the myth of Callisto, the beautiful nymph who had sworn a vow of chastity to the goddess Artemis. Zeus saw the nymph one day and fell in love. The two had a son, and named him Arcas. Artemis had already banished Callisto when she had learned about the nymph’s pregnancy and broken vow. Mahadev Haribhai Desai (1973). Day-to-day with Gandhi: Secretary's Diary. Sarva Seva Sangh Prakashan. Archived from the original on 2022-05-13 . Retrieved 2021-01-06. Gamma Ursae Majoris is the lower left star in the bowl of the Big Dipper. It belongs to the Ursa Major Moving Group. The star’s traditional name, Phecda (or Phad), is derived from the Arabic phrase fakhð ad-dubb, which means “the thigh of the bear.” James B. Kaler (28 July 2011). Stars and Their Spectra: An Introduction to the Spectral Sequence. Cambridge University Press. pp.241–. ISBN 978-0-521-89954-3. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021 . Retrieved 7 June 2019.Mark R. Chartrand (1982). Skyguide, a Field Guide for Amateur Astronomers. Golden Press. Bibcode: 1982sfga.book.....C. ISBN 978-0-307-13667-1. Archived from the original on 2021-04-15 . Retrieved 2019-06-07. Another way to find Cygnus is to look for an asterism called the Summer Triangle. This is a group of three quite bright stars that are roughly directly above an observer in the UK during summer.

Among the Greek myths there are different versions of this tale. Another asserts that it is Artemis who transforms Callisto into a bear as punishment for breaking her vow of chastity. Many years later, Callisto along with Arcas become captured in a forest.

Location in the Night Sky

National Maritime Museum Free displays Pioneers: A Renaissance in South Asian Creativity A series of portraits of South Asian creative individuals, on display at the National Maritime Museum. Are you ready to meet the pioneers? In some Native American stories, the three stars in the asterism’s handle of the dipper represented three warriors chasing a great bear. In recent American history, the Big Dipper was used in the Underground Railroad. Halfway between the two shoulders there are a group of stars that make up Orion’s head. It is not always possible to make out multiple stars making up the head because they are all quite dim, but usually at least one can be spotted. Ursae Majoris, Mizar, the second star in from the end of the handle of the Big Dipper, and the constellation's fourth-brightest star. Mizar, which means "girdle", forms a famous double star, with its optical companion Alcor (80 Ursae Majoris), the two of which were termed the "horse and rider" by the Arabs. The Wampanoag people (Algonquian) referred to Ursa Major as "maske", meaning "bear" according to Thomas Morton in The New England Canaan. [46]