Ursa Major is located in the Northern sky for most of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It appears to look like a bear and the best time of the year to see the Great Bear is in April around 9 pm. The constellations celestial address is Right Ascension 11 Hours and Declination 50 Degrees. Ursa Major is also surrounded by constellations to it north like Draco and Ursa Minor. Bootes is to the East of the Great Bear and Leo to the South and Lynx to the Northwest. Ursa Major is visible in the sky between latitudes 90 and 35 Degrees. Cool and interesting fact about Ursa Major and Ursa Minor is that they never completely go below the horizon which is a curse put on them by Hera which is Zeus' wife. The Great Bear (Ursa Major) gets its name from a favorite Greek Myth. Zeus loves a nymph named Callisto. Hera finds out, and turns Callisto into a Bear during her fit of jealousy. While in the forest Callisto now a bear watches her son Arcas grow and become a skilled hunter. Eventually Callisto encounters her son while he is hunting and as he is about to shoot her, Zeus sweeps them both into the sky, turning them into Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.
| The Most Prominent Stars in Ursa Major | Celestial Coordinates | Apparent Magnitude | Spectral Class | Absolute Magnitude | Distance From Earth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubhe | RA. 11 03 43.7 and DEC. 61 45 03 | 1.79 | K0IIIa | 1.07 | 38 Pcs |
| Merak | RA.11 01 50.5 and DEC. 56 22 57 | 2.37 | A1V | -0.02 | 24 Pcs |
| Phecda or Phad | RA.11 53 49.8 and DEC. 53 41 41 | 2.44 | A0Ve | 0.00 | 26 Pcs |
| Megrez | RA. 12 15 25.6 and DEC. 57 01 57 | 3.31 | A3V | 0.08 | 25 Pcs |
| Alioth | RA.12 54 1.7 and DEC. 55 57 35, | 1.77 | A0pCR | -0.02 | 25 Pcs |
| Mizar | RA. 13 23 55.5 and DEC. 54 55 31 | 2.27 | A1Vp SrSi | 0.02 | 24 Pcs |
| Alcor | RA. 13 25 13.5 and DEC. 54 59 17 | 4.01 | A5V | 0.16 | 25 Pcs |
| Alkaid | RA. 13 47 32.4 and DEC. 49 18 48 | 1.86 | B3V | -0.19 | 31 Pcs |
| Talitha | RA. 08 59 12.4 and DEC. 48 02 30 | 3.14 | A7IV | 0.19 | 15 Pcs |
| Tania Borealis | RA. 10 17 5.8 and DEC. 42 54 52 | 3.45 | A2IV | 0.03 | 41 Pcs |
| Tania Australis | RA. 10 22 19.7 and DEC. 41 29 58 | 3.05 | M0III | 0.03 | 76 Pcs |
| Alula Borealis | RA. 10 22 19.7 and DEC. 41 29 58 | 3.05 | M0III | 0.03 | 76 Pcs |
| Omnicron UMa (Muscinda) | RA. 08 30 15.9 and DEC. 60 43 05 | 3.36 | G5III | 0.84 | 56 Pcs |
| Pi 1 UMa (Muscinda) | RA. 08 39 11.7 and DEC. 65 01 15 | 5.64 | G1.5Vb | 0.62 | 14 Pcs |
| Pi 2 UMa (Muscinda) | RA. 08 40 12.8 and DEC. 64 19 40 | 4.60 | K1IIIb | 1.17 | 77 Pcs |
The special featured objects I am going to be discussing in more detail are Bode's Galaxy, Dubhe, Mizar and Alcor.
The galaxy below is called Bodes Galaxy also known as Messier 81 or NGC 3031. Bodes Galaxy is a spiral galaxy which is about 12 million lightyears away from Earth. Messier 81 was discover in the Ursa Major constellation in 1774 by Johann Elert Bode. It's celestial coordinates are; Right Ascension 9 hrs. 55 mins. 33.2 sec. and Declination 69 degrees 3 foot 55 inches. The apparent magnitude of this galaxy is 6.94. According to NASA/IPAC EXTRAGALACTIC DATABASE there are 14 objects in the Messier 81 Galaxy that attribute to the galaxies mass. An interesting fact about Bodes Galaxy is that it is the largest in its class of M81 Galaxies and it is 1 0f 34 located within Ursa Major.
Mizar's apparent magnitude is 2.23 with a spectral class of A1V which makes it a Main Sequence star. It's Right Ascension is 13 h 23m 55.5s and it's Declination is 54 degrees 55' 31". The distance from Earth is 24 Parsecs. Mizar's absolute magnitude is 0.33. Something interesting about Mizar and Alcor is that they are neighbor stars (also called the horse and rider stars) in the Ursa Major asterism the Big Dipper. Mizar and Alcor are part of the big Dipper's handle. They are the second stars from the end of the handle. Alcor's apparent Magnitude is 3.99 with a spectral class of A5V which makes it a Main Sequence star. the celestial coordinates for alcor are Right Ascension 13h 25m 13.5s and the Declination is 54 degrees, 59' 17". It's absolute magnitude is 0.16 and is 25 Parsecs away from Earth. something interesting about Alcor is that in Japanese mythology it is known as the lifespan star and is believed one would pass away by year's end if they could not see this star in the sky. Dubhe's apparent magnitude is 1.79 with a spectral class of K0IIIa which makes it a Giant star. Right Ascension of Dubhe is 11h 03 m 43.7s and the Declination is 61 degrees 45' 03". The absolute magnitude of Dubhe is 1.07 and it is 38 Parsecs from Earth. Dubhe is interesting because it is a pointer star. It is famous for helping people navigate by finding Dubhe you can locate Ursa Minor which contains Polaris the North Star.
This website was especially helpful in finding details of the spiral galaxies mass within the constellation Ursa Major. This site was useful for researching and reporting on Messier 81 because it was dedicated only to the research found on this galaxy.
This website was especially helpful in finding pictures and details for this spiral galaxy within the constellation Ursa Major. This site was useful for researching and reporting on Messier 81 because it was cited extremely well within the wiki.
This website is especially helpful for finer details of your star and its properties. It helped with the special feature part of my presentaion.
This website is a great website for viewing all constellations in the sky. It was very helpful for finding the names of the stars on the constellation. The planetarium aspect of it is amazing because it is easy to see where the constellation is at in the sky and what constellations it is by.
I love mythology and this book was a great help for this project. This book explained the myth of how the Great Bear ended up in the sky and ultimately how the constellation received it's name.
This website is especially helpful for finer details of your Constellations stars and their properties. It helped me to name the stars of the asterism the Big Dipper which is located within the constellation Ursa Major.
