Ursa Minor star names table. The location of Ursa Minor in the starry sky

Constellation Ursa Minor. The Little Dipper asterism is the most distinctive feature of this circumpolar constellation. The end of the bucket handle is marked by the North Star (left). Near the North Star is the north celestial pole. To the right we see two other bright stars - the orange star Kohab and the white Ferkad - which mark the edge of the bucket (right). Photo: Rogelio Bernal Andreo

Clear nights present us with an eternal picture of the starry sky. It is, of course, difficult for city dwellers to fully enjoy this spectacle, but in the past, when there were few cities, people paid attention to the sky much more often - for very practical reasons.

Our distant ancestors considered the stars to be motionless. Indeed, despite the fact that the entire picture of the starry sky continuously rotates (reflecting the rotation of the Earth), mutual arrangement the stars on it remain unchanged for centuries. Therefore, stars have been used since time immemorial to determine location on earth and keep time. For ease of orientation, people divided the sky into constellations - areas with easily recognizable star patterns.

The names of many constellations have been preserved from ancient times: Lyra and Cassiopeia, Big Dipper and Bootes are already mentioned in the works of Homer (7th century BC), who, by the way, believed that Zeus created the stars exclusively to help sailors. Almost as ancient is constellation Ursa Minor.

Ursa Minor has played an important role in astronomy for many centuries. This constellation is not remarkable at all bright stars or a noticeable pattern, but one that indicates the direction north.

Constellations Ursa Major(bottom) and Ursa Minor (top) under ideal atmospheric conditions. Please note: unlike the handle of the Big Dipper, the handle of the Small Dipper is curved in the other direction. Drawing: Stellarium

As you know, the geographic north pole is the place where the Earth's imaginary axis of rotation intersects its surface in the northern hemisphere (accordingly, in the southern hemisphere, such a point will be the south pole). If the Earth's rotation axis is extended to infinity, then it will point to the north and south pole celestial sphere, to which, as ancient astronomers believed, stars and Milky Way. The whole planet rotates around the north pole with a period of one day. celestial sphere, But the pole itself remains motionless.

Sailors of the past knew that the celestial pole is motionless, and its height depends only on the latitude of its location. In this case, the perpendicular, lowered from the celestial pole to the horizon, indicates the direction to the north.

The constellation Ursa Minor is remarkable because it is in it that the north pole of the world is located, near the famous Polar Star. But it was not always so. Due to precession in Homer's time, the closest star to the north celestial pole was Kohab or β Ursa Minor. And even earlier, more than 4000 years ago, the function of the polar star was performed by the star Thuban or α Draco. It turns out that the celestial pole is not motionless after all, but wanders across the sky! True, its movement is so slow that for practical purposes it can be neglected.

By the way, the term “north pole” itself came into use about 500 years ago; before that, the pole was called arctic, from the Greek word "arktos"(αρκτοζ) - bear! For the ancients, the Arctic was the territory lying under the Ursa constellations.

Origin of the constellation

Ursa Minor is one of the oldest constellations, and therefore it is quite difficult to understand its “pedigree”. Although Homer only mentions in his works, Malaya probably appeared already at the end of the 7th century BC. Here is what Strabo wrote about this in his “Geography”, which appeared two thousand years ago: “Probably, in the era of Homer, the other Ursa was not yet considered a constellation and this group of stars was not known to the Greeks as such until the Phoenicians noted it and became use for navigation" ...

Probably, people identified Ursa Minor as a separate constellation after it began to be closer than other stellar figures to the north pole of the world. It was much more convenient to navigate by Ursa Minor than by other constellations (before that, sailors determined the direction to the north by the bucket of the neighboring Ursa Major). Probably around 600 BC, the famous ancient philosopher Thales of Miletus followed the example of the Phoenicians and introduced Ursa Minor into Greek astronomy, forming a constellation from the wings of the mythical Dragon located in the sky nearby.

How to find Ursa Minor?

To learn how to find this small constellation in the sky, you need to know what Ursa Minor looks like. This constellation has only three more or less bright stars, so identifying it will require some skill.

The main and most noticeable detail of Ursa Minor is asterism Small Bucket, which, however, is not nearly as noticeable as the Big Dipper bucket. You can identify Ursa Minor by first finding the North Star (aka α Ursa Minor). To do this, you need to find the Big Dipper. In autumn and winter, the Big Dipper's bucket is visible in the north low above the horizon, in spring evenings - in the east in a vertical position with its handle down, and in summer - in the west with its handle up. Then, through the outermost stars in the Big Dipper - α and β Ursa Major - you need to draw a long, slightly curved line. Polaris is approximately five times the distance between the stars α and β of Ursa Major. It is approximately equal in brightness to these stars. The North Star marks the end of the handle of the Small Dipper; the ladle itself stretches from it towards the ladle of the Big Dipper. Unlike the Big Dipper, its handle is curved in the opposite direction.

The constellation Ursa Minor is easiest to find by starting from its brightest star, Polaris. You should look for it along the continuation of the line connecting the outermost stars of the Big Dipper - Dubhe and Merak (see text). Drawing: Stellarium

The Small Bucket, like the Big Bucket, includes 7 stars. However, unlike the stars of the latter, the stars of the Little Dipper vary greatly in brightness. Only its three brightest stars - α, β and γ - can be easily found in the overexposed city sky. But the 4 other stars of the Small Bucket are much dimmer and are not always visible in the city. This is probably why inexperienced astronomy lovers often misrecognize the Little Dipper, managing to mistake even the tiny Pleiades dipper for it. Nevertheless, having seen the Small Dipper at least once, you are unlikely to ever lose it, because this figure is always, at any time of the year and day, located in approximately the same part of the sky.

In urban light conditions, it is difficult to identify the Little Dipper. In the red sky, four of the seven stars of the Little Dipper are not visible. Only the North Star (above) and the Guardians of the Pole, the stars Kohab and Ferkad, remain. Drawing: Stellarium

The legend of the constellation Ursa Minor

Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are connected not only by their proximity in the sky, but also by myths and legends, which the ancient Greeks were great experts at composing.

The main role in stories with bears was usually given to Callisto, the daughter of Lycaon, king of Arcadia. According to one legend, her beauty was so extraordinary that she attracted the attention of the almighty Zeus. Taking the guise of the hunter-goddess Artemis, whose retinue included Callisto, Zeus penetrated the maiden, after which her son Arkad was born. Having learned about this, the jealous wife of Zeus Hera immediately turned Callisto into a bear. Time has passed. Arkad grew up and became a wonderful young man. One day, while hunting wild beast, he attacked the bear's trail. Suspecting nothing, he already intended to hit the animal with an arrow, but Zeus did not allow the murder: having also turned his son into a bear, he carried both of them to heaven. This act enraged Hera; Having met her brother Poseidon (god of the seas), the goddess begged him not to allow the couple into her kingdom. That is why Ursa Major and Ursa Minor in middle and northern latitudes never go beyond the horizon.

Another legend is associated with the birth of Zeus. His father was the god Kronos, who, as you know, had the habit of devouring his own children. To protect the baby, the wife of Kronos, the goddess Rhea, hid Zeus in a cave, where he was nursed by two bears - Melissa and Helis, who were later ascended to heaven.

In general, for the ancient Greeks the bear was an exotic and rare animal. This may be why both she-bears in the sky have long, curved tails, which are not actually found on bears. Some, however, explain their occurrence by the unceremoniousness of Zeus, who pulled the bears into the sky by their tails. But tails can have a completely different origin: among the same Greeks, the constellation Ursa Minor had an alternative name - Kinosura (from the Greek Κυνόσουρις), which translates as “Dog’s Tail”.

The Big and Small Buckets were often popularly called “chariots” or Big and Small Carts (not only in Greece, but also in Rus'). And in fact, with proper imagination, you can see carts with harnesses in the buckets of these constellations.

Ursa Minor Stars

Ursa Minor is a small constellation (its area is 255.9 sq. degrees), so the naked eye will notice only 25 stars in it, and even then only under ideal conditions.

Constellation Ursa Minor. Drawing: IAU/Big Universe

Of the bright stars, three are worth noting - α, β and γ.

(aka α Ursa Minor) - the most bright Star constellations. Polaris is comparable in brightness to the stars of the Ursa Major bucket; in the list of the brightest stars in the sky, it ranks only 48th. As you can see, Polaris is far from the brightest star in the sky, as some people far from astronomy believe. The well-known nature of α Ursa Minor is due solely to its proximity to the celestial pole. Currently, Polar is less than 1° away from this point, and therefore practically motionless in the sky. This is the same “nail” in the sky around which all the other stars walk, as if on a leash.

The position of Ursa Minor in the evening sky depending on the time of year. Drawing: Big Universe

The North Star is more than 400 light years away from us. According to its physical characteristics, Polaris belongs to the giant stars - its mass is 6 times, its radius is 30, and its luminosity is 2400 times higher than that of the sun. In addition, Polar is somewhat hotter than the Sun; the temperature on its surface is 7000 K. Polar has two satellite stars, one of them - a dim 9 m star - can already be seen in amateur telescopes, while the other is so close to Polar that only Hubble “sees” it.

Kohab, or β Ursa Minor, is almost equal in brightness to Polaris. This is one of the two extreme stars in the Little Bucket. Kohab has a pronounced Orange color; this star belongs to spectral class K. It is cooler than the Sun, but in size it is more than 40 times larger than our daylight star! Need I say that the luminosity of the giant is many times higher than that of the sun?

The third star, γ Ursa Minor, is also a giant star. It is hotter than both Polar and Kokhaba, but is significantly inferior to both in brilliance, since it is located further - at a distance of about 500 light years from Earth. She also has her own name - Ferkad. Kohab and Ferkad, β and γ Ursa Minor together form the Guardian of the Pole asterism.

Coordinates, as well as some physical characteristics We list these three stars in the table below. The luminosity of stars is expressed in solar units, the distance is given in light years.

Star	α (2000)	δ (2000)	V	Sp. Class	Distance	Luminosity	Notes
Polar	02h 31min 49.1s	+89° 15" 51"	1,97	F7:Ib-Iiv	431	2421	α Ursa Minor, Cepheid, triple
Kohab	14 50 42,4	+74 09 20	2,07	K4III	126	189	β Ursa Minor
Ferkad	15 20 43,7	+71 50 03	3,00	A3II-III	480	1159	γ Ursa Minor, type variableδ Shield

Probably, the Big Dipper is exactly the constellation with which each of us began our acquaintance with the starry sky (and for many, unfortunately, it ended there...) Let us also begin with this wonderful constellation. By the way, this is one of the largest constellations in our sky by area and the familiar “bucket” is only part of it. Why did the ancient Greeks see this particular beast here? According to their ideas, in the north there was a huge Arctic country, inhabited only by bears. (In Greek, “arktos” means bear, hence “arctic” - the country of bears.) So it is not surprising that it is images of bears that adorn the northern part of the sky.

One of the ancient Greek legends tells about these constellations:

Once upon a time, King Lycaon ruled in Arcadia. And he had a daughter - the beautiful Callisto. Even Zeus himself admired her beauty.

Secretly from his jealous wife, the goddess Hera, Zeus often met with his beloved and soon Callisto gave birth to a son, Arkad. The boy grew up quickly and soon became an excellent hunter.

But Hera learned about the love of Zeus and Callisto. In her anger, she turned Callisto into a bear. Returning from hunting in the evening, Arkad saw a bear at home. Not knowing that this was his mother, he pulled the bowstring... But it was not for nothing that Zeus was all-seeing and all-powerful - he grabbed the bear by the tail and carried it to the sky, where he left it in the form of the constellation Ursa Major. Only while he was carrying her, the bear’s tail stretched out...

Together with Callisto, Zeus carried her beloved maid to the sky, turning her into the small constellation Ursa Minor. Arkad also remained in the sky as the constellation Bootes.

Now between the constellations Ursa Major and Bootes there is the constellation Canes Venatici, introduced by Jan Hevelius, which successfully fits into the ancient Greek myth - the hunter Bootes keeps the Canes Venatici on a leash, ready to cling to the huge Ursa.

Big Dipper

The constellation Ursa Major is famous not only because it can be used to easily find the North Star in the sky, but it also contains many interesting objects that can be observed with simple amateur instruments.

Look at the middle star in the "handle" of the Big Dipper - ζ, this is one of the most famous double stars - Mizar and Alcor (these are Arabic names, like most star names, they are translated as Horse and Rider). These stars are located quite far from each other in space (such pairs are called optical binaries), but the brighter star - Mizar - also appears as a double in a telescope. This time the stars are really connected to each other by gravitational forces (physical double star) and turn around general center wt. The brighter star has a magnitude of 2.4 m, 14" from it there is a companion - a star with a magnitude of 4 m. But that’s not all - each of these stars is also double, only these pairs are so close that they cannot be separated in the largest telescopes and only spectral observations can detect duality (such stars are called spectroscopic binaries). So Mizar is a quadruple star (not counting Alcor). In one place we can observe examples of all types of double stars at the same time.

Constellation Ursa Major. (hover your mouse over an item to see its photo)

And on the back of the Ursa we can see a completely different pair - galaxies M81 and M82. They are available for observation in small telescopes, but the most interesting details are visible only in instruments with a lens diameter of at least 150mm. M81 is a regular spiral, and the galaxy located to the north, M82, is one of the most beautiful representatives of the class of irregular galaxies. In the photographs she looks as if she had been torn apart by a monstrous explosion. True, such details cannot be seen visually, but the dark bridge in the center of the galaxy is relatively easy to observe.

Two more nebulae can be seen in the same field of view of the telescope slightly south of the “bottom of the bucket”, not far from β Ursa Major - this is the galaxy M108 and the planetary nebula M97 “Owl”.

Ursa Minor

Perhaps the only attraction of this small constellation is the North Star. Nowadays, it is located quite close to the pole - at a distance of just over 40" (however, everything is relative, this distance is noticeably greater than the apparent diameter of the Moon). This position of the Polar does not last forever - the Pole of the World shifts in the sky (this phenomenon is called precession) and approximately in a hundred years the pole will begin to slowly move away from it (you can read more about precession)

Constellations Ursa Minor and Draco. (hover your mouse over an item to see its photo)

The Dragon

This constellation stretches out in a clearly visible chain of stars around Ursa Minor. According to Greek legend, the Dragon is a monster killed by Hercules that guarded the entrance to the Garden of the Hesperides.

One of the main attractions of the constellation is the planetary Cat's Eye Nebula NGC6543. By the way, it is located in the direction of the ecliptic pole, 3000 light years from the Sun. Like most planetary nebulae, it is small in size, but easily observed with average telescopes. Unfortunately, the spectacular details of the nebula that give it its name can only be seen in photographs.

Ursa Minor - a small constellation Northern Hemisphere, containing 25 visible stars. The seven largest of them form a scoop pattern in the sky, the handle of which is completed by the North Star. Ursa Minor does not go beyond the horizon, so the small dipper, using some landmarks, can be seen at night even with the naked eye.

How to find Ursa Minor - choosing the right environment

To make stargazing successful, remember these tips:

look for the stars on a clear night so that there are no clouds or stratus clouds in the sky;
go outside the city, where there are no burning street lamps and glowing windows of houses, but there is a huge dark sky on which you can easily find the Little Dipper;
When starting your observation, stand so that tall trees or buildings do not block your horizon. Most the best option when there are no obstacles at all, that is, the horizon is clear.

How to find Ursa Minor by the North Star

This famous star is not the brightest in the sky, so it is better to look for it by Ursa Major, the outline of which looks like a giant ladle. The constellation is visible in the sky at night in good weather - in autumn and winter it hangs in the northern part of the sky, in spring it stands in the east in a vertical position - with its handle down, in summer - in the west, with its handle up.

Using our recommendations, find the Big Dipper in the sky. Mentally connect all the stars with a line - you get a bucket with a handle.
Pay attention to the bowl consisting of 4 stars. The outermost of them are indicator stars - Dubhe and Merak, which determine the location of the North Star.
Connect Merak and Dubhe with an imaginary beam. Extend it up and a little to the right, to a distance five times greater than the segment between these stars. At the end of the line you will see the North Star - the end point of the handle of the small dipper.

If even after such research you cannot fully imagine the Little Dipper, use the following hint.

How to find Ursa Minor - additional landmark

Have you found the North Star, but the small dipper does not appear? In this case, the giant stars of the frontal rim of the Ursa Minor bowl - Kohab and Ferkad - will help.

Turn your gaze to the left side of the Polar Star and notice a light circle in an orange halo - this is Kohab, above it, forming the upper corner of the scoop - Ferkad. These stars circle the North Star and are called the Guardians of the Pole.
Take a closer look and you will see 2 more stars making up the inner corners of the bowl. Connect them with lines and in front of you is a ladle without a handle.
Look for two dimly glowing star points between the bowl and the North Star. Close the remaining gaps with straight segments and a small ladle with a handle will come out, facing in the opposite direction from the handle of the Big Dipper.

Although Ursa Minor can be found at any time, it is best seen in the winter sky before sunrise or in the first hour of spring sunset.

If time permits, go to nature to take a break from the bustle of the city, admire the starry scattering of the night sky, and think about distant unknown worlds, the light from which does not reach our planet.

I live in a city and it’s not so easy to see the constellations. But WithUrsa Minor constellation visible even from the outskirts of St. Petersburg, so I think that on a clear day anyone can see them. I know two ways to find Ursa Minor.

How to find Ursa Minor

I don’t know what it’s like according to science, I have my own ways:

traditional;
modern, using gadgets.

Let's tell you in order.

The traditional way: how I look for the Little Dipper

This method allows find not only the Little Dipper, but also the Big Dipper. You can’t do this without drawing and help.

You need to remember well what do these constellations look like. Try to remember how stars are located. You can take the drawing with you, it will be easier look for the stars in the sky.
First of all look for the Big Dipper in the sky. The stars of this constellation are bright, it is not difficult to find it by comparing it with the picture. Found it?
Look just above Ursa Major North Star. It is bright and in line with the two stars of the Ursa Major bucket.
The polar star is the outermost star in "handle of the dipper" of Ursa Minor. Find the remaining points of the constellation based on the picture.
Remember that the “bucket handles” Ursa Minor and Ursa Major always pointing in different directions.

Now that you found constellations, based on the drawing, try to find them again, this time on your own. By training in this way, you will learn identify these constellations without outside help.

How to look for Ursa Minor: the “advanced” method

It turns out there are smartphone applications and tablets that allow look for Ursa Minor and other objects in the night sky.

How to find what you need using the application:

Loading application.
Be sure to add information about your location.
Point camera to the part of the sky in which you want to find a star or constellation.
The app shows you what are the names of the stars and outlines the constellations that fall within the camera's field of view.

I myself prefer the second method. I don't rely much on my eyes and memory, and if find Ursa Minor and I can still do the Big one, then with the other constellations everything is much more complicated. And the application is perfectly oriented even in poor visibility.

In addition, you can learn many new star names.

The constellation Ursa Minor is a circumpolar constellation in the Northern Hemisphere of the sky. Occupies an area of 255.9 square degrees in the sky and contains 25 visible stars naked eye. Ursa Minor currently houses the North Pole of the world, at an angular distance of 40′ from .
Ursa Minor is one of the most famous constellations. It is small in size and does not have particularly bright stars, but its location is remarkable. Ursa Minor is located near the north pole of the world, and due to this, it has played an important role in astronomy for many centuries. Ursa Minor is usually depicted as a small bear with a long tail. They say that the tail is so long because the bear clings to the Earth's pole with its end. The seven brightest stars in Ursa Minor form a scoop shape similar to the asterism in the constellation Ursa Major. At the end of the handle is the North Star. Finding a constellation in the sky is quite simple. Its neighbors are the Giraffe, the Dragon and the Cepheus. But the Ursa Major is usually the reference point for the search. By drawing a line with your gaze through the two outer luminaries of its bucket, and measuring up five distances between them, you can find the Polar Star, which serves as the beginning of the “handle” of another, smaller “scoop”. This will be Ursa Minor. It is less bright than the Big One, but is still clearly visible in the sky and is easily distinguishable from other constellations. In the Northern Hemisphere, this constellation is available for observation all year round.

The brightest stars of the constellation

Polaris (α UMi). Magnitude 2.02 m
Kohab (βUMi). Visible magnitude 2.08 m. In the period from approximately 2000 BC. e. to 500 AD e. Kohab was the closest to North Pole world as a bright star and played the role polar star, which is reflected in its Arabic name Kohab el-Shemali (Star of the North)
Ferkad (γ UMi). Magnitude 3.05 m
Yildun (δ UMi). Apparent magnitude 4.36 m

The legend of the constellation Ursa Minor

Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are connected not only by their proximity in the sky, but also by myths and legends, which the ancient Greeks were great experts at composing.

The main role in stories with bears was usually given to Callisto, the daughter of Lycaon, king of Arcadia. According to one legend, her beauty was so extraordinary that she attracted the attention of the almighty Zeus. Taking the guise of the hunter-goddess Artemis, whose retinue included Callisto, Zeus penetrated the maiden, after which her son Arkad was born. Having learned about this, the jealous wife of Zeus Hera immediately turned Callisto into a bear. Time has passed. Arkad grew up and became a wonderful young man. One day, while hunting a wild animal, he came upon the trail of a bear. Suspecting nothing, he already intended to hit the animal with an arrow, but Zeus did not allow the murder: having also turned his son into a bear, he carried both of them to heaven. This act enraged Hera; Having met her brother Poseidon (god of the seas), the goddess begged him not to allow the couple into her kingdom. That is why Ursa Major and Ursa Minor in middle and northern latitudes never go beyond the horizon.