Polaris and how to find the Ursa Major in the Big Dipper?

If you look deep into the centuries, among many asterisks, the constellation of the Little Bear occupies a rather important position . All the facts indicate that the ancient navigation relied on the position of the stars in it. Although the Phoenicians sometimes used the Great Bear to orientate, despite its great brightness, it gave considerable inaccuracies in determining the path.

How to find the Little Dipper on the Big?

Obviously, most of you will easily find the Great Bear. It is quite expressive and bright. Knowing that both constellations are near, no doubt, it becomes clear how to find the Little Ursa by the Big Dipper. To do this, you will need to mentally connect the two last stars of the Big Dipper: from Merak (β Big Dipper) to Dubha (α Big Dipper)), continuing this line up a distance of 5 times the distance between them. This is how you find the Alpha (Polar Star) constellation of the Ursa Minor.

Before asking how to find the constellation of the Little Ursa, knowing only the location of the Polar, you need to understand what shape the stars form, and how the asterisk is located relative to the Big Dipper. For a complete understanding: according to their names, they are quite similar and resemble a bucket in shape. As for the location, the Little Dipper is almost in an upside down position relative to the Big Dipper.

Knowledge is power

Examine the star map before starting the search, this will make it easier for you to search for the asterisk. Afterwards you will make sure of the simplicity of finding the star group you are looking for. And if someone asks you how to find the Little Ursa by the Big Dipper, you can clearly, with full knowledge, explain how to find it.

Well, now we know how to find the constellation of the Little Ursa. Let's talk about the Polar Star, thanks to which travelers and seafarers of the past made a long and hard journey. Although this is not the brightest star in the night sky, but it is closest to the north of the world, the error does not exceed 1 °. After only 145 years, the position error will exceed one degree.

Only after 3200 the star, as close as possible to the northern point of the world, will be Alderamin (Alpha Cepheus).

"Twists" the bear by the tail about the earth's axis

The polar star does not change its position, despite the daily circulation of the Earth around its axis and the annual orbital motion around the Sun. The brightness of the guiding star is variable and varies intensity with a periodicity of 4 days, within 2.02 ± 2%. Earlier, the luminosity amplitude was higher, today it has stabilized. The overall brightness of the Polar star is constantly growing and has increased by almost 15% over the last hundred years.

The nature of pulsation is associated with the property of the luminary, this is how the cepheids behave. Guiding star is one of the brightest cepheids in the night sky.
Small Ursa occupies an area of about 255.9 square degrees in the sky. Her immediate neighbors are the Dragon, Cepheus. In asterisk, as already mentioned, is placed, the North Pole of the World is the point of the celestial sphere, where all objects revolve around it. The first mention in historical sources was made by the Greek astrologer Ptolemy in the II century.

The Little Dipper and its stars

The constellation of the Small Dipper consists of seven bright objects. Of all the stars of the Little Bear, only three of the brightest are clearly visible. This is Ferhad and Kokhab, forming the wall of the bucket, and crowns the handle of the constellation Polar Star. Over the tail of the Big Dipper are the last two stars.

Small Dipper is slightly different from other constellations. He does not change the location in the sky, like the Big Dipper and most other asterisk that are seasonal. They can be observed in a certain season, and they are mobile in the firmament throughout the year. The Little Dipper also changes its location, revolving around its Alpha.

"Alpha and Omega" constellations of the Little Ursa in the Northern Hemisphere

The Alpha (Polaris) of the Ursa Minor is located at a distance from the Earth of 431 light-years. With an apparent value of 2.02. As it became known, this is not one, but three stars, united in a single system. The brightest among them, almost 2,000 times greater than the brightness of the Sun. The second star of the Ursa Minor has a mass equal to 1.39 solar. It can be observed in a small telescope. The third Alpha star is 1.25 times more massive than our Sun and is located quite tightly to the first one. With the help of the Hubble telescope it became possible to view it as a separate star.

Kohab is an orange giant, in translation from the Arabic "Star of the North". The second brightest star, it is beta, in the constellation of the Small Bucket with a magnitude of 2.8 and is removed from the Earth by 126 light years.

Ferhad is the scale of the Little Dipper, with a magnitude of 3.6, the distance to it is 480 light years. This object is considered a hot giant with a temperature of 8600 K and relates to a variable type of stars.

The Delta of the Small Bucket, or Yildun - is a white dwarf, which is located at a distance of 183 light years.

Zeta - another dwarf, white and located at a distance of 380 light years from Earth. The intensity of its luminescence is 200 times higher than that of the Sun. He is on the path of education in a giant star.

The Polar Star will not fail you

Perhaps all this will not be remembered, but still your knowledge has become more extensive. And if suddenly you get lost in the forest, and there is no mobile connection, try to remember how to find the Little Ursa by the Big Dipper. You will certainly find the North Star and orient yourself in which direction the north is.

The sky is full of secrets and unknown secrets

Even without a telescope, simply looking at the night lights, you will see how diverse our large universe is. The constellation of the Little Dipper is only a small visible part of it. The boundaries and dimensions of the universe visible to us for today are certain. This is truly a giant magnitude, its length is about 14 billion light years.

But is the universe in reality? This thought stirs the minds of great scientists. They construct hypotheses, investigate, argue and try to understand, is this so? Some experts say that the universe is infinite, others - that there is a Multiverse.

And it may well be that in one of them there is a similar planet, a country and a copy of you. Everything is possible, science constantly pushes the veil of the unknown and hidden from our gaze, proving invariably: what seems to be a fantasy today, is embodied in reality tomorrow.