Ursa Major - “The Great Bear”

Ἄρκτος Μεγάλη (Arktos Megale)

Jarron Hatcher

Physics 1040

Constellation Paper

(Sinnot and Fienberg)

Mythology

Ursa Major, also known by the genitive name “Ursae Majoris”, is one of the most easily

recognizable constellations in the night sky dating back thousands of years. The story behind the

constellation has taken on many different forms for a significant amount of world cultures.

However, the main theme surrounding Ursa Major is that it has been commonly used as a symbol

for the north–along with neighboring constellation Ursa Minor, which is home to the “North

Star” Polaris (Wikipedia). The most commonly known mythology stems from Greco-Roman

tradition.

In Greek mythology, there are multiple versions of the constellations' backstory with

minor differences in characters and the timeline of events that caused its creation. The majority

however, follow the story of Callisto. As seen in book II of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Callisto is

said to have been the daughter of Lycaon, the ancient King of Arcadia in the central

Peloponnese. Some versions say Callsito isn’t the daughter of Lycaon, but actually that of

Lycaon’s son, Ceteus (Ridpath).

As Callisto came of age, she joined the retinue of Artemis, the goddess of hunting. Over

time, Callisto became enamored with Artemis, to the point of even dressing the same way as her,

tying her hair with a white ribbon and pinning together her tunic with a brooch. Due to her

admiration, she soon became the favorite hunting partner of Artemis. Callisto even swore a vow

of chastity to Artemis. One afternoon, while in a shady forest grove, Callisto laid her bow down

to rest. Unbeknownst to her, while she laid there, she caught the attention of the King of the

Gods Zeus, as he passed by and he became immediately entranced. Zeus, known for his cunning

and ability to transform himself, quickly assumed the appearance of Artemis. He then entered the

grove, where he was greeted warmly by an unsuspecting Callisto. As he laid there beside her, he
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began to embrace her, which immediately startled her. Before she was able to react, Zeus

revealed his true self, and despite the fighting and struggles of Callisto to prevent it, had his way

with her. Once finished, Zeus returned to Olympus, leaving Callisto behind and filled with shame

(Ridpath).

Months later on a hot afternoon, the hunting party of Artemis came to a cool river to

bathe and rest. As they all undressed and moved into the river, Callisto hung back. As she

reluctantly undressed, her advancing pregnancy was revealed. Due to the breaking of her

chastity, Artemis banished Callisto from her sight. After the birth of her son known as Arcas,

Zeus’ wife Hera quickly realized the infidelity of her husband. Filled with hatred, she vowed to

punish Callisto, thus transforming her into a bear. For 15 years after, Callisto wandered the forest

alone in bear form, however she still had her human mind. One day, she came across her son.

Callisto recognized Arcas and began to approach him. Not knowing the bear was his mother,

Arcas grabbed his spear in an attempt to defend himself. Before Arcas could attack, Zeus

intervened, sending a whirlwind that carried both of them into the heavens, transforming Callisto

into the constellation Ursa Major and Arcas into Ursa Minor. Now even more enraged that

Callisto was glorified among the stars, Hera turned to her parents, the gods of the sea, and

persuaded them to never let the bear bathe in the northern waters, hence why Ursa Major never

sets below the horizon (Ridpath).

In alternate versions of the story, Zeus is the one who transforms Callisto into a bear to

hide her from Hera’s wrath. When Callisto and Arcas cross paths, he fires an arrow into his

mother’s chest, which causes her to change back into human form. Afraid Hera would see

Callisto’s body, Zeus places them both into the sky as the two constellations (Caldwell 34).

While this mythology is the most commonly known, the constellation has seen its fair share of
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interpretations throughout history. Hindu, Judeo-Christian, Asian, Native American, Germanic,

and Uralic traditions all give their own beliefs and stories to the meaning and creation of Ursa

Major (Wikipedia).

The Constellation and Stars

Ursa Major currently sits as the 3rd largest recorded constellation. One of the original 48

constellations listed by Ptolomy in 2nd century AD, it occupies a massive area of 1,280 square

degrees, which correlates to 3.102% of the night sky. It’s also the largest constellation in the

Northern Hemisphere located in its second quadrant. It is centered around RA 10.67h and DEC

+55.38° and can be seen from anywhere if you’re located between latitudes +90° and -30°.

However, the most opportune time to witness the entirety of the constellation is during spring,

when it is located high above the North-Eastern horizon (AstroBackyard).

Ursa Major is located in the center of 8 different constellations. Draco can be seen

located to the North and Northeast. Boötes is found to the East, while Canes Venatici and Coma

Berenices are to the Southeast. Leo and Leo Minor are located directly South, while Lynx and

Camelopardalis are to the southwest and northwest respectively. The stick figure shape of the

constellation, as seen in the picture on the cover page, looks exactly like the name implies, a

bear, with an abnormally long tail. While Ursa Major is home to 135 stars, most individuals

recognize a portion of the constellation due to the 7 brightest stars: Alkaid, Mizar, Alioth,

Megrez, Phecda, Merak and Dubhe. These 7 stars combine to form one of the most well known

and easy to find Asterisms in the night sky, known as “The Big Dipper”. When looking at Ursa

Major, The Big Dipper is what is used to make up a portion of the back and the tail of the Great

Bear (AstroBackyard).

The table below shows the 20 brightest stars within Ursa Major:
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Name RA Dec Vis. mag. Abs. mag. Dist. (ly) Sp. class

ε UMa 12h 54m 01.63s +55° 57′ 35.4″ 1.77 −0.21 81 A0p

α UMa 11h 03m 43.84s +61° 45′ 04.0″ 1.79 −1.08 124 F7V comp

η UMa 13h 47m 32.55s +49° 18′ 47.9″ 1.86 −0.60 101 B3V SB

Mizar A 13h 23m 55.54s +54° 55′ 31.3″ 2.23 0.32 83 A2V SB

β UMa 11h 01m 50.39s +56° 22′ 56.4″ 2.37 0.41 79 A1V

γ UMa 11h 53m 49.74s +53° 41′ 41.0″ 2.44 0.36 84 A0V SB

ψ UMa 11h 09m 39.86s +44° 29′ 54.8″ 3.01 −0.27 147 K1III

μ UMa 10h 22m 19.80s +41° 29′ 58.0″ 3.06 −1.35 249 M0III SB

θ UMa 09h 32m 52.33s +51° 40′ 43.0″ 3.12 2.52 44 F6IV

ι UMa 08h 59m 12.84s +48° 02′ 32.5″ 3.14 2.29 48 A7IV

δ UMa 12h 15m 25.45s +57° 01′ 57.4″ 3.31 1.33 81 A3Vvar

ο UMa 08h 30m 16.03s +60° 43′ 06.4″ 3.35 −0.40 184 G4II-III

λ UMa 10h 17m 05.93s +42° 54′ 52.1″ 3.45 0.38 134 A2IV

ν UMa 11h 18m 28.76s +33° 05′ 39.3″ 3.49 −2.07 421 K3III SB

κ UMa 09h 03m 37.56s +47° 09′ 24.0″ 3.56 −1.99 423 A1Vn

23 UMa 09h 31m 31.57s +63° 03′ 42.5″ 3.65 1.83 75 F0IV

χ UMa 11h 46m 03.13s +47° 46′ 45.6″ 3.72 −0.20 196 K0III
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υ UMa 09h 50m 59.69s +59° 02′ 20.8″ 3.78 1.04 115 F0IV

Mizar B 13h 23m 56.33s +54° 55′ 18.56″ 3.88 1.96 83 A3m

Alcor 13h 25m 13.54s +54° 59′ 16.7″ 3.99 2.00 82 A5Vn

(Wikipedia)

Of the 20 brightest stars, ε UMa is the most luminous with a visual magnitude of 1.77,

while Alcor is the least luminous at a visual magnitude of 3.99 which still makes it visible to the

naked eye. The star most like our own sun, is α UMa, which has a stellar classification of F7V,

which would make it lay closest to our sun which is G2V on the H-R diagram. It is also the star

that will live the longest, while star ο UMa will be the first to die. The hottest of the stars by far

is η UMa, being the only star with the spectral type B. While the coolest is μ UMa, the only star

with a spectral type M. The closest star to Earth is θ UMa at only 44 light years away, while κ

UMa is the farthest at 423 light years away.

Objects of Interest

Since Ursa Major is such a massive constellation and takes up so much space in the sky,

it is home to a massive amount of interesting objects ranging from galaxies, nebulas and meteor

showers. One galaxy in particular is Messier 101 (M101), also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy.

Located over 22 million light years away, it's spiral galaxy whose shape is fairly similar to the

Milky Way, however with a diameter of about 180,000 light years, M101 is nearly double the

size and contains over 1 trillion stars. Located at RA 14h 03m 12s and DEC +54° 21', It was first

discovered by a man named Pierre Méchain on March 27, 1781. He initially described the galaxy

as “a nebula without a star, very obscure and pretty large, 6' to 7' in diameter, between the left

hand of Boötes and the tail of the great Bear." He communicated this to Charles Messier, who
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verified its position and then included it in his catalog as one of the final entries. M101 has an

apparent magnitude of +7.9, meaning it can't be seen with the naked eye, but it can be seen with

binoculars or a small telescope. The best times to view the galaxy are March, April and May

(Freestarcharts).

Another interesting object within Ursa Major is Messier 97 (M97), also known as the

Owl Nebula. M97 is a planetary nebula located 2,030 light years away. With an apparent

magnitude of +9.9, it too can't be seen with the naked eye. It can only be seen in binoculars or

with a telescope, and even then it would still be incredibly faint. However, with some higher

powered telescopes with enough magnification, you would observe two dark patches in the

nebula, giving rise to its name. It was first discovered on February 16, 1781, also by Pierre

Méchain. M97 sits at RA 11h 14m 47.734s and DEC +55°01’08.50” and has an estimated age of

only 8,000 years (Messier Objects).

Ursa Major is also home to 4 different meteor showers. The Alpha Ursae Majorids are a

minor meteor shower in the constellation. The Kappa Ursae Majorids are a newly discovered

meteor shower, peaking between November 1 and November 10. The October Ursae Majorids

were discovered in 2006 by Japanese researchers. They are believed to be caused by a long

period comet. The shower peaks between October 12th and 19th. The most major of the showers

are the Ursids. Their activity begins annually around December 17 and runs for over a week,

until the 25th or 26th (Wikipedia).

M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy

(Freestarcharts)

M97 - Owl Nebula

(Messier Objects)
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Works Cited

AstroBackyard. “The Ursa Major Constellation | Facts, Pictures, and Deep Sky Objects.”

AstroBackyard, 18 Jan 2022, https://astrobackyard.com/ursa-major-constellation/.

Accessed 16 Jan 2023.

Caldwell, Stella. “Ursa Major.” Legends of the Stars: Myths of the Night Sky, Carlton Kids

Publishing Group, 2019, pp. 34-35.

Freestarcharts. “Messier 101 - M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy (Spiral Galaxy).”

freestarcharts.com, https://freestarcharts.com/messier-101. Accessed 13 Mar 2023.

Messier Objects. “Messier 97: Owl Nebula.” Messier Objects: Guide to the Bright Galaxies,

Nebulae and Clusters Listed in the Messier Catalog, 25 Aug 2015,

https://www.messier-objects.com/messier-97-owl-nebula/. Accessed 20 Mar 2023.

Ridpath, Ian. “Star Tales – Ursa Major.” STAR TALES: Ursa Major The Great Bear., 18 June

2018, http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/ursamajor.html. Accessed 13 Mar 2023.

Sinnot, Roger, and Rick Fienberg. “IAU Ursa Major chart.” International Astronomical Union, 5

June 2011, http://www.iau.org/public/themes/constellations/#uma. Accessed 9 Apr 2023.

Wikipedia. “List of stars in Ursa Major.” Wikipedia, 23 Feb 2023,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stars_in_Ursa_Major. Accessed 7 Apr 2023.

Wikipedia. “Ursa Major.” Wikipedia, 25 Jan 2020, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursa_Major.

Accessed 13 Feb 2023.