h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Ursa Major- The Great Bear - A22637135
Author: Shagbark - U170775

One poor neglected Bear.
a history:
2001 Tango creates the article- he does not complete it.
June2006 miraculous randomness takes article from flea market(A12517355) he does not complete it either.
May 2007 shagbark makes a new copy. it is the seed of this article.

Mention what it actually looks like? Also, not visible in southern hemisphere, is it?

Apart from the fact that the first table unnecessarily widens the screen which makes reading more difficult, I think you'll have to explain the tables. As they are, they don't really tell me anything.

The first table is in it's original format.
Perhaps I should use the same format for both tables and add a legend
to each.

Hi SB,

'Ursa Major is one of the most recognizable constellations...'

I don't think it wouyld be an untruth to say that Ursa Major is THE most easily recognisable constellation

The constellation is on the merididien at midnight and the two brightest stars , alpha (Dubhe) and Beta (are almost exactly 5 degrees apart, and (as you say) the line joining them runs due north and south, pointing to the Pole Star.

The central star of the 'handle (Mizar) is double, having a companion which is just visible to the naked eye.

Incidentally, I thought that the star names (Alpha and Beta) had a suffix which gave the name of the constellation they're in (like Alpha Centauri), but my 'Astronomy Made Simple) just calls them Alpha and Beta, as you have done

Dunno if it is worth explaining the origin/meaning of the names (Dubhe, Mizar etc) - they're Arabic.

Another name for U.M. is Charles' Wain, but I don't know the origin of this.

A.

n.b. It's worth saying that most stars below the first magnitude are known by catalogue numbers rather than proper names, but the seven stars of UMa have individual names.(This must say something about the importance of UMa!) All these are about second magnitude apart from Megrez, which is lower than third.

The Mizar/Alcor pair are often nicknamed as 'Jack and his Wagon'.

If you can see Alcor without an optical aid, it means that the sky is fairly transparent (pollution-free).

Merek and Dubhe are known as the Pointers, bewcause they show the way to Polaris.

Maybe it's worth saying the following:

Polaris is the lead star of a much fainter constellation of similar shape, Ursa Minor. The only other bright star in UMi is Kocab (which is about as bright as Polaris), which is one of the two 'Guardians of the Pole'. Polaris and Kocab differ in colour, however, Polaris being white and Kocab being distinctly orange.

A

'Before the advent of city lights drowning out the heavens there were men who walked this earth and looked up in wonder at the night sky. They connected the dots of light above them and created pictures in the mind. Some of these creations gained widespread acceptance and were taught by Magi and others'.

and...

'Ursa Major is one of the most recognizable constellations and one of the earliest to be learned'.

It is worth saying here that the seven starsof the Plough was the oldest recognised constellation, and was probably recognised by our remotest ancestors. The Bear is the oldest name for a constellaqtion and UMa was named the Bear by astronomers of the Euphrates several millenia B.C.

oNE OF MY BOOKS, 'Introducing Astronomy' bty S.B. Sidgwick (Faber, 1957) says this,

'... it is an extraordinary fact, indicating the extreme antiquity of this designation and the persistence of folk memory, that it was known thus in the most widely separated parts of the world: Chaldeans, Persians, Indians, Phoenecians, Egyptians and N.American Indians all knew the constellation as the Bear'.

The latter saw the four stars, alpha, beta, gamma and delta as the Bear, and the 3 stars of the 'handle' as the hunters. The first carried a bow and arrow, the second a pot in which to cook the meal when the bear was killed, and the third an urn of stars to provide the fire for the pot. Each autumn the hunters succeeded in wounding the bear, and its blood dripping down upon the forests accounts for the reddening of leaves during the 'fall (autumn)

YUou then mention the Cllisto/Jupiter/Juno/Diana myth.

The Egyptians did not call UMa the Bear, but the Haunch.

he name 'Wain' IS COMMON TO ALL tEUTONIC PEOPLES, AND IS PROBABLY ASSOCIATED WITH oDIN AS oRION WITH HIS CONSORT fRIGGA, OR WITH tHOR. ( for shouting).

Reference the optical doublet, Micor and Alcor, it's interesting to note that light takes 90days to cross the gap between them (compared with 8 minutes from Sun to Earth.

Mizar, itself is a telescopic binary, discovered by Riccioli, but the separation of 14" prevents its observation with binoculars.. This was the first double star to be photographed

lots of informaton here. I will try to get it in when I work on this Sunday.

as I borrowed info extensively from posts 5-7 I have added big Al's name to the list of researchers.

Are you gonna mention Ursa Minor as an aside? It's got Polaris in after all, and many people get the two confused - you know, thinking the north star is in the major and so forth.

To get there, you follow the line created by the alpha and beta stars on the top of the handle.

Oh, and the Major constellation is lowest in winter, and highest in summer. In British skies, that is.

I mean, on the side of the pan. If it was a pan, rather than a plough or a bear or a charles-thing.

Actually, how about a whole section on Star Hopping?

Following the line of the handle from Zeta to Eta, you run into the Gamma Star of the constellation Bootes.

Follow the Delta-Gamma line to run into the constellation Leo.

The Beta - Alpha line intersects with Polaris in Ursa Minor (I've mentioned this before, and I've just noticed you've already put it in. Sorry, I'm rubbish).

The Gamma - Delta line links in to the constellation Draco.

And you've got an enormous gap between your first and second paragraphs - possibly a Guide ML mistake.

Ref mentioning Ursa Minor, this is what I suggested in Post 6 :



Polaris is the lead star of a much fainter constellation of similar shape, Ursa Minor. The only other bright star in UMi is Kocab (which is about as bright as Polaris), which is one of the two 'Guardians of the Pole'. Polaris and Kocab differ in colour, however, Polaris being white and Kocab being distinctly orange.

I don't really understand the tables either. Is there another way you can present this information?

I always thought it looked more like a saucepan than anything else.

The tables aren't really for everyone. these were something that was arequirement of the old h2g2 constellation project, and I thought I would keep the concept just in case some professional astronomers happen on the site.

I do intend to make some mention of the little Bear (Ursa Minor) perhaps a paragraph, although I really think it would be better if it had its own article.
A star opping section sounds like a good idea.
Give me a while and I will mull overhow I fit it in.

'I do intend to make some mention of the little Bear (Ursa Minor) perhaps a paragraph, although I really think it would be better if it had its own article'.

Whilst I agree that UMi should have its own Entry, I do think more mention of it in this Entry, simply becaue it contains the 'Guardians of the Pole' (see one of my postings above'.As I said, one of its stars (Kocab) is as bright as Polaris but differs in colour. I think this is worth pointing out in this Entry

If you will check it out you will see that I have now included
this .

We can start on some of the Editorial stuff now. Other people are better at this than I but, for starters:

'...Chaldeans, Persians, Indians,Phoenicians,Egyptians and North Americans all knew the consellation as a bear.-S.B.Sidgewick Introducing Astronomy'

> Chaldeans, Persians, Indians,Phoenicians,Egyptians and North Americans all knew the consellation as a bear (S.B.Sidgewick Introducing Astronomy, Faber (1957)) (I think, althiough there may be a proper h2g2 way of doing this).

Also, tn the Footnotes, Arabs and Greeks need to start with capital letters.

Under your Header of 'Asterisms'

CHarles' Wain > Charles' Wain (i.e. lower case 'h'.