Explanation:
The best known asterism in northern skies, The Big Dipper is
easy to recognize, though some might see The Plough.
Either way, the star names and the familiar outlines will appear in this
thoughtfully composed 24 frame mosaic
when you slide your cursor over the image.
Dubhe,
alpha star of the dipper's parent constellation Ursa Major is at
the upper right.
Together with beta star
Merak
below, the two form
a line pointing the
way to
Polaris and
the North Celestial Pole off the top edge of the field.
Notable too
in skygazing lore Mizar,
second star from the left in the dipper's handle,
forms a vision-testing
visual double star with apparently close Alcor.
Also identified in the famous star field are
Messier catalog objects.
Download the
higher resolution image
to hunt for exquisite views
of some of Messier's distant spiral galaxies and a more
local owl.
What was that?:
Help identify a mystery flash seen on Mauna Kea
