Constellations

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Constellations

Do you see what I see?

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Do you see what I see?

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Do you see what I see?

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Do you see what I see?

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Ursa Major

Ursa Major, the Great Bear, is visible in the Northern Hemisphere all year long.

Ursa Major is the best known of the constellation and it appears in every reference known.

The story behind it:

Callisto was changed to a bear because of Zeus's jealousy and transferred her to the sky. This is improbable, as the constellation was already well established before this time. The drawings all show a bear with a long tail, again not likely correct since bears have no tails. The most likely explanation for the bears is the fact that Native Americans called the constellations the bear, but instead of the tail they depict the bear being chased around the pole by seven braves.

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Ursa Major

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Ursa Major Circumpolar Constellation

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How to find the Big Dipper

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Ursa Minor

Ursa Minor, the Little Bear, is visible in the Northern Hemisphere all year long.

Ursa Minor is mostly known for Polaris, the North Star which may be found at the end of the handle.

The story behind it:

Ursa Minor does not have any mythology attached to it, it was created in the 6th century B.C. as a navigational aid for sailors out of a long forgotten constellation called the Dragon's wing.

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Ursa Minor Circumpolar Constellation

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Cepheus

The story behind it:

Cepheus was the King of Ethiopia. He married Cassiopeia and they had a daughter Andromeda. Cassiopeia was incredibly beautiful but immensely vain. She was also proud of her daughter's beauty. In fact she continually boasted that the two of them were more beautiful than any of the fifty sea nymphs who attended Poseidon's court.