Who is ursa major

The star has a debris disk of dust orbiting it, one with a mass 0. Beta Ursae Majoris is 2. It belongs to the Ursa Major Moving Group and is a suspected variable star. Alkaid is the easternmost star in the Big Dipper asterism. It is also known as Elkeid and Benetnash. It is a young main sequence star belonging to the spectral class B3 V, approximately light years distant.

Alkaid is notable for being one of the hottest stars that can be seen without binoculars. It has a surface temperature of 20, kelvins. The star has six solar masses and is about times more luminous than the Sun. The name Alkaid itself means leader. Gamma Ursae Majoris is the lower left star in the bowl of the Big Dipper.

It belongs to the Ursa Major Moving Group. Gamma UMa is a main sequence star of the spectral type A0 Ve. It has a visual magnitude of 2. The star is located only 8.

Megrez, Delta Ursae Majoris, is the faintest of the seven bright stars that form the Big Dipper asterism. It is a main sequence star of the spectral type A3 V. It has a visual magnitude of 3. The star emits an excess of infrared radiation, which indicates a debris disk in its orbit. Zeta Ursae Majoris is a system composed of two binary stars. Mizar has an apparent magnitude of 2. It was the first double star ever to be photographed. Early American photographer and inventor John A.

Whipple and astronomer George P. Bond took the photo of the binary system in using a wet collodion plate and the inch refractor telescope at Harvard College Observatory. Bond had previously also photographed the star Vega in Lyra constellation in Alcor is a visual companion to Mizar.

It belongs to the spectral class A5V. Alcor has a visual magnitude of 3. Alcor was discovered to be a binary system in The estimated distance between the two stars is 1. It is a binary system composed of two close stars in a circular orbit with a period of 0. The stars are physically so close that their outer envelopes are in direct contact. Each star orbits the other during each orbital cycle, resulting in a decrease in brightness.

The apparent magnitude of the system varies between 7. Both stars belong to the spectral class F8V. Winnecke 4 is another double star in Ursa Major. It was originally catalogued as a Messier object by Charles Messier in , while he was looking for a nebula that Johann Hevelius reported seeing in the region.

Not finding the nebula, Messier catalogued the binary star instead. The German astronomer Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke rediscovered the star in , and it was subsequently named after him.

Winnecke 4 has an apparent magnitude that varies between 9. It is It has an apparent magnitude of 5. In , a planet at least 2. Two more planets were discovered in the system in and Nu Ursae Majoris is another double star, one visible to the unaided eye. It has an apparent magnitude of 3. Xi Ursae Majoris is composed of two main sequence dwarfs belonging to the spectral class G0 Ve. The system is only 29 light years distant. The brighter component has an apparent magnitude of 4.

The combined visual magnitude of the system is 3. The spots in turn cause variations in luminosity around 0. In some cases, the fluctuations in brightness are caused by the stars being eclipsing binaries. Each of the two main components in the Xi Ursae Majoris system is itself a spectroscopic double, and has a low mass companion. Xi Ursae Majoris is also notable for being the first binary star to have its orbit calculated, in Lambda Ursae Majoris is a star belonging to the spectral class A2 IV, which means that it is evolving into a giant as its hydrogen supply becomes exhausted.

The star has an apparent magnitude of 3. Mu Ursae Majoris, or Tania Australis, is the southern star of the pair. It is a red giant, belonging to the spectral type M0 lab, approximately light years away. Mu Ursae Majoris has a visual companion about 1. Iota Ursae Majoris is a star system composed of two double stars, a white subgiant of the spectral type A7 IV that is in fact a spectroscopic binary, and another pair of 9th and 10th magnitude stars.

When the B component was first discovered in , the two binary stars were separated by The distance between the two has decreased dramatically since, and is now only 4.

He carries both Callisto and Arcas into the sky. There, he turns his son into the constellation of Ursa Minor and his lover, Callisto, into Ursa Major. The constellation of Ursa Major completes a full rotation around the North Star every 24 hours, and for that reason, it can never be seen below the horizon.

Because of this motion, the constellation has been used as a star clock throughout history. Just from looking at its position in relation to the North Star, people could tell the clock during night time. Each son places a stone into the water so that it would be easier to get to the other side. The mother didn't know who put the stepping stones there, so she blessed them, and when her sons died, they became the constellation of Ursa Major.

Ursa Major is the largest constellation located in the northern hemisphere and the third largest constellation in the sky. It covers They both shared the same legend throughout history and also the same importance in navigation. The constellation of Ursa Major is made up of 22 stars. Ursae Majoris, also known as Alioth , is the brightest star of this constellation and the 33 rd brightest in the sky.

Mizar, the second star from the end of Big Dipper's handle and the third brightest star of this constellation, is known for its spectacular optical illusion. Together with Alcor, it forms a famous double star that in the Arab culture is referred to as "the horse and the rider.

The Big Dipper is an asterism , one of the most recognizable in the night sky, and it is part of the constellation of Ursa Major. It consists of seven bright stars, with magnitudes that go from 1. Two of its brightest stars are Merak , which shines 70 times brighter than our Sun , and Dubhe , which shines times brighter than the Sun. The Big Dipper is mainly used as a navigation tool because it serves as a pointer to other locations in the sky. For example, if you draw a straight line up, continuing the imaginary line between Merak and Dubhe, you will reach the North Star , also known as Polaris.

Similarly, if you continue the Dipper's handle, you will find the bright star Arcturus , and if you keep going, you will discover Spica , one of the brightest stars in the sky and the most shining star in the constellation of Virgo. Ursa Major is the site of the well-known double star Mizor and Alcor, located in the middle of the dipper's handle. These two stars were the first double star to ever be photographed.

They can easily be separated with a good pair of binoculars. The brightest star in the constellation is Alioth with a visual magnitude of 1. It is a blue-white subdwarf star located approximately 81 light years from Earth.

The second brightest star is Dubhe, a blue-white subgiant star with a magnitude of 1. It is located about light years away.

Alkaid is the third brightest star with a magnitude of 1. It is a blue subgiant star that lies some light years from our solar system. Ursa Major contains seven Messier objects, including a double star, a planetary nebula, an irregular galaxy, and four spiral galaxies.

It is extremely bright, making it a popular target for amateur astronomers with small telescopes. M82, the Cigar Galaxy, is an edge-on starburst galaxy shaped like a cigar.