A brief history of the Big Dipper

As mentioned in the video, here are some additional resources (Amazon affiliate links) to help with your stargazing:
Stargazing
Celestron – SkyMaster Giant 15×70 Binoculars – Top Rated Astronomy Binoculars – Binoculars for Stargazing and Long Distance Viewing – Includes Tripod Adapter and Case
100 Things to See in the Night Sky, Expanded Edition: Your Illustrated Guide to the Planets, Satellites, Constellations, and More
National Geographic Backyard Guide to the Night Sky, 2nd Edition

Watch the Hartiverse video about the Big Dipper here: https://youtu.be/UfFZX7v3tFM

The Big Dipper is the third largest constellation and is also known as Ursa Major. You can spot it easily at night because it never sets below the horizon. The Big Dipper is also known as the Plough in England. Other star patterns can be seen within the Big Dipper. Ancient Hindu astronomy extensively mentioned the Big Dipper. It was called the Sapta Rishi which means “The Seven Sages.” The Chinese consider it to be a part of the Northern Dipper, because it has seven stars that when taken together is called “The Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper.”

Middle Eastern stargazers see the four bright stars of the Big Dipper as a coffin. The other three stars beside it are seen as the mourners. It is not clear who first sighted the Big Dipper or when. It seems from the historical record that the prominent evening stars that are part of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor have been identified and admired for several thousand years. In 2006, A Chinese man named Wu Jiacai found a stone carving of the Big Dipper dated to the Neolithic times of about 9,500 B.C. The yam-shaped stone was accompanied by strange-looking images believed to be religious relics.

According to Greek mythology, Zeus fell in love with a mortal named Callistro who loved hunting and adventure. Hera, the ever-jealous wife of Zeus heard about her husband’s dalliance and turned the mortal woman into a bear. Callistro was hunting with her son Arcas, who was unaware what had happened. Sensing danger, he sought out his mother. Arcas went to a part of the forest where he came across a bear. The bear charged towards him and Arcas was ready for his defense. He aimed at the bear with his bow and arrow, ready to kill it.

At that moment, all that Zeus could do was to change Arcas into a small bear, saving his former love from her son’s hunting prowess. He could not change Callistro back because Hera’s curse was too strong. Zeus held both bears by their tails and flung them into the sky and they remained immortal there forever, or so the story goes. Hera knew all about this turn of events and made sure that both mother and son would never recover, expelling them into the part of the night sky that never sets.

Astronomers have taken an interest in the star cluster too, finding 10 exoplanets or livable planets around the Big Dipper. They orbit the stars of Ursa Major. 47 Ursae Majoris b is the most visible of the bunch and was discovered in 1996. After five years, another exoplanet was found near it and was named 47 Ursae Majoris c.

There are also so-called “superjovian planets” present near and around the Big Dipper. These planets have incredible size and mass. One of them is HD 80606 b which is easy to spot. Now you know some interesting facts to share around the campfire next time you and your friends or family go stargazing.

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