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Brightest Starsform The Big Dipper Asterism, One of The Most Recognizable Shapes in The Sky, Also Known As The Plough

Ursa Major is the largest northern constellation and third largest overall, known for its distinctive Big Dipper asterism. Its name means "the great bear" in Latin. Alioth is its brightest star, located around 80 light years away with surface temperatures twice that of the sun and a radius around 4 times larger. Ursa Major has been referenced in literature and art throughout history and across cultures, from ancient Greek astronomers to modern rock bands.

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54 views1 page

Brightest Starsform The Big Dipper Asterism, One of The Most Recognizable Shapes in The Sky, Also Known As The Plough

Ursa Major is the largest northern constellation and third largest overall, known for its distinctive Big Dipper asterism. Its name means "the great bear" in Latin. Alioth is its brightest star, located around 80 light years away with surface temperatures twice that of the sun and a radius around 4 times larger. Ursa Major has been referenced in literature and art throughout history and across cultures, from ancient Greek astronomers to modern rock bands.

Uploaded by

haashvinie
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Ursa Major is the largest northern constellation and third largest constellation in the sky.

Its
brightest starsform the Big Dipper asterism, one of the most recognizable shapes in the sky,
also known as the Plough. Its name means “the great bear,” or “the larger bear,” in Latin.

Also known as Eta Ursae Majoris, at a distance


of around 80 light years from Earth Alioth is the brightest star in the constellation, it has
surface temperatures twice that of the sun with a radius around 4 times larger.

Ursa Major has been reconstructed as an Indo-


European constellation.[21] It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century AD astronomer Ptolemy in
his Almagest. It is mentioned by such poets as Homer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Tennyson and Federico Garcia
Lorca (in "Song for the Moon"[22]). The Finnish epic Kalevala mentions it, Vincent van Gogh painted it. In 2009, the
American rock band Third Eye Blind named their fourth album, Ursa Major, after the constellation. It may be
mentioned in the biblical book of Job, dated between the 7th and 4th centuries BC, although this is disputed.[23]

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