Two stars in the bowl Dubhe and Merak act as a pointer to Polaris, the Pole star. The Plough asterism is a very useful guide for locating other stars. Of the seven stars, only Dubhe and Alkaid are not actual group members. All member stars are moving in roughly the same direction and at about 80 light-years distant it's the nearest cluster like object to Earth. Most of the stars of the Plough belong to a nearby stellar group, known as the Ursa Major Moving Group or Collinder 285. The Arabs viewed the grouping as a coffin and Ursa Major, along with Orion and the Pleiades, are mentioned in the Bible. Arcas the son of Callisto almost shoots the bear, but to avoid tragedy, Jupiter turns Arcas also into a bear, placing them both in the sky as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. In Roman mythology, Jupiter the King of the God's, lusted after a beautiful woman named Callisto who was transformed into a bear by his jealous wife, Juno. In Europe, the pattern symbolised a wagon or chariot that was associated with King Arthur.
Of course, the Plough is its standout feature, which has been referenced in drawings and writings since the dawn of civilisation. The constellation spans a vast swath of the northern sky, covering almost 1,280 square degrees in surface area. Ursa Major was listed by Ptolemy as one his 48 constellations in his second century Almagest and remains today as one of the modern 88 constellations. It's made up of stars, Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar and Alkaid. It's the third largest constellation in the sky and contains a central feature of seven stars, known as the Plough or Big Dipper, which is one of the most recognisable patterns. Ursa Major or the Great Bear is a prominent constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere.
0 kommentar(er)
