Clayson, Hollis (2002). "Exhibition Review: "Some Things Bear Fruit"? Witnessing the Bonds between Van Gogh and Gauguin". The Art Bulletin. 84 (4): 670–684. doi: 10.2307/3177290. ISSN 0004-3079. JSTOR 3177290. This is the star around which the whole northern celestial sphere appears to turn throughout the night. This is because Polaris is located nearly above Earth’s northern axis. Helpful Resources: Xi Ursae Majoris, or Alula Australis, is the southern star of “the first leap.” It is in fact a star system first discovered by Sir William Herschel in 1780. Xi Ursae Majoris is composed of two main sequence dwarfs belonging to the spectral class G0 Ve. The system is only 29 light years distant. The brighter component has an apparent magnitude of 4.32, and the dimmer one, 4.84. The combined visual magnitude of the system is 3.79. HD 80606, a sun-like star in a binary system, orbits a common center of gravity with its partner, HD 80607; the two are separated by 1,200AU on average. Research conducted in 2003 indicates that its sole planet, HD 80606 b is a future hot Jupiter, modeled to have evolved in a perpendicular orbit around 5AU from its sun. The 4-Jupiter mass planet is projected to eventually move into a circular, more aligned orbit via the Kozai mechanism. However, it is currently on an incredibly eccentric orbit that ranges from approximately one astronomical unit at its apoapsis and six stellar radii at periapsis. [28] History [ edit ] Ursa Major shown on a carved stone, c.1700, Crail, Fife

The seven stars that form the Big Dipper are Dubhe (Alpha Ursae Majoris), Merak (Beta UMa), Phecda (Gamma UMa), Megrez (Delta UMa), Alioth (Epsilon UMa), Mizar (Zeta UMa), and Alkaid (Eta UMa). Alioth – ε Ursae Majoris (Epsilon Ursae Majoris)Ursa Major constellation belongs to the Ursa Major family of constellations. This family of constellations consists of Boötes, Camelopardalis, Canes Venatici, Coma Berenices, Corona Borealis, Draco, Leo Minor, Lynx, and Ursa Minor.

In China and Japan, the Big Dipper is called the "North Dipper" 北斗 ( Chinese: běidǒu, Japanese: hokuto), and in ancient times, each one of the seven stars had a specific name, often coming themselves from ancient China: 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. 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.

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M108 is an isolated member of the Ursa Major Cluster, a galaxy cluster within the Virgo Supercluster. M108 contains about 290 globular clusters and 83 X-ray sources. Groombridge 1830 is a subdwarf belonging to the spectral class G8V, only 29.7 light years from the Sun. It was catalogued by the British astronomer Stephen Groombridge in the early 19th century in his Catalogue of Circumpolar Stars, published posthumously in 1838. What's more, the angle of the star above the horizon gives you your latitude (north-south position on the Earth’s surface). For years, sailors relied on the North Star for navigating at sea, with the help of instruments like quadrants and astrolabes. Finding Polaris Ursa Major constellation lies in the northern sky. Its name means “the great bear,” or “the larger bear,” in Latin. The smaller bear is represented by Ursa Minor. Thousands of years ago, people spent hours gazing at the night sky. They found that by connecting the stars as if they were dots, patterns emerged that resembled animals, people, and things.Today, we call star patterns“constellations.”