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Ursa Minor is a constellation
Constellation

A constellation is a group of stars that appear to have a physical proximity in the sky. The stars in a constellation are often vastly distant from each other, but they appear close to each other from the perspective of Earth....
 in the northern sky. Its name is Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 for 'little bear
Bear

Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives....
', contrasting with Ursa Major
Ursa Major

Ursa Major is a constellation visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere. Its name means the Great Bear in Latin. It is dominated by the widely recognized asterism known as the Big Dipper or Plough, which is a useful pointer toward north, and which has mythological significance in numerous world cultures....
, the Great Bear. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 1st century astronomer Ptolemy
Ptolemy

Claudius Ptolemaeus , known in English as Ptolemy , was a Roman Greek mathematics, Greek astronomy, geographer and astrologer. He lived in History of Roman Egypt, and was probably born there in a town in the Thebaid called Ptolemais Hermiou; he died in Alexandria around 168 AD....
, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations
List of constellations

Each culture has its own constellations, usually based on mythology. This article covers the 88 constellations used in modern astronomy, which properly speaking are not patterns of stars, as in the common use of the word, but areas of the sky ....
. Ursa Minor is notable as the location of the north celestial pole
Celestial pole

The north and south celestial poles are the two imaginary points in the sky where the Earth axis of rotation, "infinitely extended", intersects the imaginary rotating sphere of stars called the celestial sphere....
, although this will change after some centuries due to the precession of the equinoxes
Precession of the equinoxes

In astronomy, precession refers to a gravitationally-induced slow but continuous change in an astronomical body's rotational axis or orbital path....
.

Minor is colloquially known as the Little Dipper because its seven brightest star
Star

A star is a massive, luminous ball of Plasma that is held together by its own gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth....
s seem to form the shape of a dipper (ladle or scoop).






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Encyclopedia


Ursa Minor is a constellation
Constellation

A constellation is a group of stars that appear to have a physical proximity in the sky. The stars in a constellation are often vastly distant from each other, but they appear close to each other from the perspective of Earth....
 in the northern sky. Its name is Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 for 'little bear
Bear

Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives....
', contrasting with Ursa Major
Ursa Major

Ursa Major is a constellation visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere. Its name means the Great Bear in Latin. It is dominated by the widely recognized asterism known as the Big Dipper or Plough, which is a useful pointer toward north, and which has mythological significance in numerous world cultures....
, the Great Bear. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 1st century astronomer Ptolemy
Ptolemy

Claudius Ptolemaeus , known in English as Ptolemy , was a Roman Greek mathematics, Greek astronomy, geographer and astrologer. He lived in History of Roman Egypt, and was probably born there in a town in the Thebaid called Ptolemais Hermiou; he died in Alexandria around 168 AD....
, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations
List of constellations

Each culture has its own constellations, usually based on mythology. This article covers the 88 constellations used in modern astronomy, which properly speaking are not patterns of stars, as in the common use of the word, but areas of the sky ....
. Ursa Minor is notable as the location of the north celestial pole
Celestial pole

The north and south celestial poles are the two imaginary points in the sky where the Earth axis of rotation, "infinitely extended", intersects the imaginary rotating sphere of stars called the celestial sphere....
, although this will change after some centuries due to the precession of the equinoxes
Precession of the equinoxes

In astronomy, precession refers to a gravitationally-induced slow but continuous change in an astronomical body's rotational axis or orbital path....
.

Notable features


Stars

Ursa Minor is colloquially known as the Little Dipper because its seven brightest star
Star

A star is a massive, luminous ball of Plasma that is held together by its own gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth....
s seem to form the shape of a dipper (ladle or scoop). The star at the end of the dipper handle is Polaris
Polaris

Polaris is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor. It is very close to the north celestial pole , making it the current northern pole star....
, the North Star. Polaris can also be found by following a line through the two stars which form the end of the "bowl" of the Big Dipper
Big Dipper

The seven brightest stars of the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear, form a well-known asterism that has been recognized as a distinct grouping in many cultures from time immemorial....
, a nearby asterism
Asterism (astronomy)

In astronomy, an asterism is a pattern of stars seen in Earth's sky which is not an official constellation. Like constellations, they are composed of stars which, while they are in the same general direction, are not physically related, often being at significantly different distances from Earth....
 found in the constellation Ursa Major
Ursa Major

Ursa Major is a constellation visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere. Its name means the Great Bear in Latin. It is dominated by the widely recognized asterism known as the Big Dipper or Plough, which is a useful pointer toward north, and which has mythological significance in numerous world cultures....
.

Polaris
Polaris

Polaris is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor. It is very close to the north celestial pole , making it the current northern pole star....
 (a UMi), the brightest star in the constellation, is a yellow supergiant
Supergiant

Supergiants are among the most massive stars. In the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram they occupy the top region of the diagram. In the spectral classification supergiants are class Ia or Ib ....
 shining at 2.02 apparent magnitude
Apparent magnitude

The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measurement of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, normalized to the value it would have in the absence of the Earth's atmosphere....
 . It belongs to the rare class of Cepheid
Cepheid variable

A Cepheid variable or Cepheid is a member of a particular class of variable stars, notable for a fairly tight correlation between their period of Radial pulsations and absolute luminosity....
 variable star
Variable star

A star is classified as variable if its apparent magnitude as seen from Earth changes over time, whether the changes are due to variations in the star's actual luminosity, or to variations in the amount of the star's light that is blocked from reaching Earth....
s. Only a bit less bright is ß UMi
Beta Ursae Minoris

Beta Ursae Minoris is the second brightest star in the bowl of the "Little Dipper,"the constellation Ursa Minor. It also has the traditional name Kochab....
 (Kochab), a 2.08 orange giant star.

The four stars in the "bowl" of the little dipper are unusual in that they are of second, third, fourth and fifth magnitude. Hence they provide an easy guide to determining what magnitude stars are visible, useful for city dwellers or testing your eyesight.

Named stars


Deep sky objects

Ursa Minor Dwarf
Ursa Minor Dwarf

The Ursa Minor Dwarf dwarf elliptical galaxy was discovered by A.G. Wilson of the Lowell Observatory in 1954. It is part of the Ursa Minor constellation, and a satellite galaxy to the Milky Way....
, a dwarf galaxy
Dwarf galaxy

A dwarf galaxy is a small galaxy composed of up to several billion stars, a small number compared to our own Milky Way's 200-400 billion stars....
, is located in the area of the constellation.

History and mythology

Ursa Minor is commonly visualized as a baby bear with an unusually long tail. The tail was said to have been lengthened from that usually expected for a bear, due to its being held by the tail and spun around the pole.(The center of the sky)

Ursa Minor and Ursa Major
Ursa Major

Ursa Major is a constellation visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere. Its name means the Great Bear in Latin. It is dominated by the widely recognized asterism known as the Big Dipper or Plough, which is a useful pointer toward north, and which has mythological significance in numerous world cultures....
 were related by the Greeks to the myth of Callisto
Callisto (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Callisto was a nymph of Artemis. Transformed into a bear and Catasterism, she was the bear-mother of the Arcadians, through her son Arcas....
 and Arcas
Arcas

In Greek_mythology, Arcas is the son of Zeus and Callisto . Callisto was a nymph of the goddess Artemis. Zeus, being a flirtatious god, wanted Callisto for a lover....
. However, in a variant of the story, in which it is Boötes
Boötes

Bo?tes Bo?tes was one of the 48 constellations described by the 1st century astronomer Ptolemy and is now one of the 88 modern constellations. It contains the List of brightest stars in the night sky, Arcturus....
 that represents Arcas, Ursa Minor was considered to represent a dog. This is the older tradition which sensibly explains both the length of the tail and the obsolete alternate name of Cynosura (the dog's tail) for Polaris, the North Star.

Previously, Ursa Minor was considered to be just seven close stars, mythologically regarded as sisters. In early Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, the seven stars of the Little Dipper were considered to be the Hesperides
Hesperides

In Greek mythology, the Hesperides are nymphs who tend a blissful garden in a far western corner of the world, located near the Atlas mountains in Ancient Libya, or on a distant blessed island at the edge of the encircling Oceanus....
, daughters of Atlas. Together with the nearby constellations of Boötes, Ursa Major, and Draco, it may have formed the origin of the myth of the apples of the Hesperides, which forms part of the Labours of Hercules.

In earliest times, Ursa Minor was named the Dragon's wing, and was considered a part of Draco
Draco (constellation)

Draco is a constellation in the far northern sky. Its name is Latin for dragon. Draco is circumpolar star for many observers in the northern hemisphere....
. The dragon's wing as an asterism
Asterism (astronomy)

In astronomy, an asterism is a pattern of stars seen in Earth's sky which is not an official constellation. Like constellations, they are composed of stars which, while they are in the same general direction, are not physically related, often being at significantly different distances from Earth....
 is now long forgotten.

In other cultures, Ursa Minor was the hole in which the earth's axle found its bearing. In Hindu mythology
Hindu mythology

Hindu mythology is the large body of traditional narratives related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and the Puranas....
, the Pole Star
Polaris

Polaris is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor. It is very close to the north celestial pole , making it the current northern pole star....
 is Dhruva
Dhruva

Dhruva, ?????, in Hindu Mythology, was an ardent young devotee of Vishnu, a prince blessed to eternal existence and glory as the Pole Star by Lord Vishnu....
 (the word means pole today), and there is a story behind him becoming a star.

See also

  • Ursa Major
    Ursa Major

    Ursa Major is a constellation visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere. Its name means the Great Bear in Latin. It is dominated by the widely recognized asterism known as the Big Dipper or Plough, which is a useful pointer toward north, and which has mythological significance in numerous world cultures....
  • Ursa Minor Beta
    Places in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    This is a list of places featured in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy....
    , a place in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a Comic science fiction series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon....


Citations


External links