Last year, we kicked off this column by learning how to star hop, and in the process, found the Big Dipper asterism in Ursa Major (the Great Bear). It feels timely to revisit this mama bear, show her some love that is absent from her story, and include her child, Ursa Minor (the Little Bear, naturally, aka the Little Dipper).
Being circumpolar, the Big Bear watches over us year round as any good mama bear does.
Humankind has linked the stars to our destiny, used them to guide exploration, and relied on them to inspire our many tales. In Greek mythology, Zeus, Callisto and Artemis (goddess of the hunt and protector of women) share a sordid history. Legend has it that Zeus was quite taken with Callisto, Artemis’s hunting companion and follower, and after Zeus took Artemis’s form to seduce Callisto, she gave birth to their son. This angered Zeus’s wife, and in that anger, she transformed Callisto into a bear (Ursa Major). Once grown and not recognizing his own mother, Callisto’s son nearly killed her during a hunt. Zeus then transformed him into a little bear, so he’d recognize his mother, and placed them both into the sky to protect them for eternity.
To find Ursa Major—our third largest constellation—and Ursa Minor in the sky, first find the Big Dipper. The cup forms the Great Bear’s body, and the handle makes her tail. A string of stars courses downward from each of the two stars at the cup’s bottom to create her front and back legs, and a trapezoid-like shape of stars extend from her body to outline her head and neck.
To find her son, Ursa Minor, return to the two stars that form the front of the Big Dipper’s cup farthest from the handle and draw an imaginary line through these two stars, extending it north. The next brightest star the line meets is Polaris, which is the end of the handle of the Little Dipper. From there follow the handle to the cup, much like the Big Dipper but on a smaller scale.
Together, they guide humankind all year on their journeys as they help explorers find North. Perhaps they’ll team up with Artemis for the (aptly named) upcoming NASA mission, guiding our astronauts on their lunar expedition and protecting the crew. One of the four astronauts is a woman, after all. Keep a close eye on this long-awaited, exciting return to the moon, with launch dates scheduled for March or April.
Want to travel the universe but stay closer to home? Recently designated a Dark Sky Park by DarkSky International, Caprock Canyon State Park offers skies free of light pollution, easily illuminating Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, the Milky Way spiral and countless stars we can’t see under city lights. A short 90-minute drive from Amarillo makes it a great place to hike during the day, enjoy a picnic dinner, stargaze and then restfully sleep under the stars.
Perhaps you can peer through a telescope and see some of the many galaxies protected by Ursa Major at one of our local astronomy club’s upcoming public star parties.
March 21 at Caprock Canyon State Park
April 11 at Alibates Flint Quarry
April 18 at Clayton Lake State Park
Follow us on Facebook for updates on our star parties, monthly meetings, and other events.
