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welcome in this video we will discuss
the differences between the
constellations of Ursa Major and Ursa
Minor
they're also commonly known as the Great
Bear and the little bear let's take a
quick look at one of the legends that
surrounds these two constellations
so Ursa Major is Latin for great bear an
Ursa Minor is Latin for small bear and
there are many myths and stories that
surround these two constellations
because they're so visible in the sky
throughout many cultures but one that
stood out to me was one from Roman
mythology and in Roman mythology dupa
tur was the king of the gods and he
lusted after many women one which
happened to be Callisto which was not
his wife his wife Juno tried to destroy
Callisto by turning her into a bear and
Callisto son Argos almost shoots his
mother because she's disguised as a bear
and he was a hunter but Jupiter was able
to prevent the tragedy by placing them
both in the sky so if you take a look at
these two pictures this would be Ursa
Major represented by Callisto in Roman
mythology and then here we have arcus
the son of Callisto and you can see
their shapes of the stars are different
and the size of them will be different
as well but this is just one of many
mythologies that have popped up over the
course of human history now let's take a
look at the patterns of Ursa Major and
Ursa Minor so looking at this picture we
are looking at Ursa Major and the thing
that probably stands out to you is the
Big Dipper and the Big Dipper is a
smaller pattern within the larger
constellation of Ursa Major which looks
like this okay now these depictions of
constellations can vary depending on
which star Maps you're looking out but
this is one version
the bear I also found this version of
the Great Bear but hopefully what you
should be seeing is the Big Dipper
within this smaller constellation and
this is important because it will be
used to point out other constellations
in the sky now let's take a look at Ursa
Minor also known as the little bear and
it also has an alternate name of the
Little Dipper so in science we often
then find that there are many names for
the same thing and the constellation is
the same case so what you're looking at
here is a shape of Ursa Minor so it's
similar to that of the Big Dipper but
still different in the sense that its
handle is shaped in a different
direction okay it's smaller in size and
then if we go back to this photo all the
stars are of different magnitude if we
were to compare the Big Dipper and the
Little Dipper side-by-side the things I
want you to notice are how the handle
curves differently on the Big Dipper
versus the small Dipper it curves up
this is much larger in size in the sky
when you're comparing it to the Little
Dipper and with the Little Dipper you're
only see three main stars Polaris is one
of them and then you have these two
stars which are called the guardians of
the pole because they circle around
Polaris however if you look at the Big
Dipper all of these stars here have
pretty much the same magnitude or the
same brightness so that is the way you
can tell the difference between the Big
Dipper and the Little Dipper and the way
they're oriented towards each other so
why do we care about the Big Dipper at
all if we take a look at this picture we
can see how the Big Dipper which is an
asterism a smaller part of a larger
constellation can point to the North
Star and the North Star is an important
star because it doesn't appear to
in our sky so we can use it as a
directional point so taking a look at
Ursa Major or the Big Dipper situated
right here if we use the pointer stars
it can guide us right to where the North
Star is so the pointer stars will point
us to Polaris just like that and here's
taking a look at where Ursa Minor is or
the Little Dipper in comparison to the
Big Dipper
so the pots face each other the pot part
of the Dipper face each other and use
the pointer stars to aim you - Polaris
another reason that Ursa Major is such
an important constellation is because
the asterism within the Big Dipper
will point to many other constellations
in the sky so take a look at this it's a
little bit grainy and not the most clear
picture but has the essentials of what
you need to know in order to find the
other constellations using the Big
Dipper so here is where the Big Dipper
is located hopefully you can see that
and then you arc to Arcturus Arcturus is
this bright star in the constellation of
botos which is right there so you arc to
our Taurus and then you speed to Spica
Spica is a bright star in the large
constellation of Virgo going back to the
Big Dipper use the pointer stars here to
aim towards Polaris here's the Little
Dipper and then right here go back to
the pointer stars and you can find Leo
the Lion
there's the backwards question mark and
the back end of the Lion and it might
help if I use this to help you point it
out as well so again you have Ursa Major
you arc to Arcturus and your speed to
Spica you use the pointer stars to aim
right to Polaris and then the pointer
stars can also aim you to Leo the Lion
now this is a huge section of the sky
that's part of the reason why it's so
greeny is you have a lot of
constellations here
but use the Little Dipper and the Big
Dipper really to help you find all the
other constellations throughout the sky
and throughout the year let's get some
more practice trying to identify the
difference between Ursa Major and Ursa
Minor so this is a picture that a former
student of mine took and it's an awesome
picture because it captures all of Ursa
Major so first thing you can look for is
the Big Dipper within Ursa Major if
you're able to find that you can find
the different constellations so let's
take a look here is where Ursa Major is
in this constellation Schutt and then
here is where Ursa Major is or I'm sorry
the Big Dipper
so again just getting more practice take
a look at this constellation are you
able to find the Big Dipper hopefully
you can here's the handle and here is
the pot part of the Dipper as I call it
and interesting enough this star right
here is called Alcor and Mizar and it is
an optical double star and some people
if their vision is good enough they can
see it with the naked eye they can see
two separate stars right here has been
used as an eye test in ancient cultures
so see if you're able to find that with
your naked eye and if you have a pair of
binoculars or a telescope aim it right
there and you'll see a double star let's
have a little bit more practice looking
at a different picture so here we're
looking at three constellations actually
and we're hoping to find Ursa Major and
Ursa Minor so let me help you out the
first thing you want to look for is the
Big Dipper so use the pointer stars to
help you find Polaris right there and
from there you should be able to find
the Little Dipper as it wraps down here
now the constellation is also
represented here is Draco which Rab
surround and its tail goes through the
dipper so that's how you can find the
constellation Draco it's a very large
one and I don't have many pictures of it
in its entirety but this is one of the
few that I do have let's take a look at
one more picture to help us practice
telling the difference between Ursa
Major and Ursa Minor this might be a
good shot to press pause if you don't
want me to go through and explain and
give yourself a chance to actually look
at the stars here and see if you can
identify any patterns so what we're
looking at here is two constellations
ones which I didn't go review in this
video but it is Cassiopeia located right
here and Cassiopeia looks like a
misshapen W or M depending upon its
orientation in the sky and that can also
point you to Polaris so here is Ursa
Minor and the North Star so here again
is its shape its handle curves up and if
we were to look here maybe you can see
again where that constellation is
situated so as a final review Ursa Major
and Ursa Minor are also known as the
Great and small bear
they are constellations that can be seen
all year round so we classify them as
circumpolar in order to find them you
need to learn how to recognize the Big
Dipper which is a very obvious pattern
to find in the sky and then you use the
pointer stars right here to point you to
Polaris and then Little Dipper arcs down
this way and you have the guardians of
the pole as well so there are a lot of
different celestial objects which we
didn't go through in this shorter video
but if you ever turn your telescope or
binoculars to these different regions of
the sky you will find many amazing
things thanks for watching and I hope
this video was helpful in order to help
you tell the difference between Ursa
Major and Ursa Minor remember to keep
going outside
observe the Stars and when you have
learned something and be able to
identify it please share it with others
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