There was once a bear, a great, white bear - Queen of Beasts. But over the years the ice disappeared, slipping away like sand through an hourglass. Slowly, slowly, one by one, the other animals moved on.' The Romans called the constellation Septentrio, or “seven plough oxen,” even though only two of the seven stars represented oxen, while the others formed a wagon. Alioth belongs to the spectral class A0pCr. The p stands for peculiar because the star’s spectrum of light is similar to that of an Alpha-2 Canum Venaticorum variable. Alioth exhibits fluctuations in its spectral lines with a period of 5.1 days. Dubhe – α Ursae Majoris (Alpha Ursae Majoris) The best way to look for Orion is to find a row of three stars fairly close together. These make up the asterism Orion’s Belt. We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin.

M101, The Pinwheel Galaxy lies near the handle of the Big Dipper in Ursa Major. Location in the Night Sky Mallory, J.P.; Adams, D.Q. (August 2006). "Chapter 8.5: The Physical Landscape of the Proto-Indo-Europeans". Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World. Oxford, GBR: Oxford University Press. p.131. ISBN 9780199287918. OCLC 139999117. The most solidly 'reconstructed' Indo-European constellation is Ursa Major, which is designated as 'The Bear' (Chapter 9) in Greek and Sanskrit (Latin may be a borrowing here), although even the latter identification has been challenged. Nu Ursae Majoris is another double star, one visible to the unaided eye. It has an apparent magnitude of 3.490 and is approximately 399 light years distant from the solar system. It is a giant star belonging to the spectral type K3 III with a radius 57 times that of the Sun, and about 775 times the Sun’s luminosity. Gibbon, William B. (1964). "Asiatic parallels in North American star lore: Ursa Major". Journal of American Folklore. 77 (305): 236–250. doi: 10.2307/537746. JSTOR 537746. Polaris is the north star that is located in the Ursa Minor constellation. Dubhe is also referred to as Alpha Ursae Majoris. Dubhe is an orange giant star around 120 light-years from Earth. It is the second brightest star in the constellation with a magnitude of 1.79.Omicron Ursae Majoris is a multiple star system about 179 light years distant. It belongs to the spectral class G4 II-III, which means that it is somewhere between a giant and bright giant on the evolutionary scale. It has an apparent magnitude of 3.35. The star’s traditional name, Muscida, means “the muzzle.” Groombridge 1830 In the Finnish language, the asterism is sometimes called by its old Finnish name, Otava. The meaning of the name has been almost forgotten in Modern Finnish; it means a salmon weir. Ancient Finns believed the bear ( Ursus arctos) was lowered to earth in a golden basket off the Ursa Major, and when a bear was killed, its head was positioned on a tree to allow the bear's spirit to return to Ursa Major. a b Jim Kaler (2009-09-16). "Stars: "Alioth" ". Archived from the original on 2019-12-11 . Retrieved 2019-06-07.

The constellation Ursa Major contains 22 formally named stars. The star names approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) are Alcor, Alioth, Alkaid, Alkaphrah, Alula Australis, Alula Borealis, Aniara, Chalawan, Dombay, Dubhe, Intercrus, Liesma, Mazaalai, Megrez, Merak, Mizar, Muscida, Násti, Phecda, Taiyangshou, Talitha, Tania Australis, and Tania Borealis.In the Sámi languages of Northern Europe, part of the constellation (i.e. the Big Dipper minus Dubhe and Merak, is identified as the bow of the great hunter Fávdna (the star Arcturus). In the main Sámi language, North Sámi, it is called Fávdnadávgi ("Fávdna's Bow") or simply dávggát ("the Bow"). The constellation features prominently in the Sámi national anthem, which begins with the words Guhkkin davvin dávggaid vuolde sabmá suolggai Sámieanan, which translates to "Far to the north, under the Bow, the Land of the Sámi slowly comes into view." The Bow is an important part of the Sámi traditional narrative about the night sky, in which various hunters try to chase down Sarva, the Great Reindeer, a large constellation that takes up almost half the sky. According to the legend, Fávdna stands ready to fire his Bow every night but hesitates because he might hit Stella Polaris, known as Boahji ("the Rivet"), which would cause the sky to collapse and end the world. [49] Southeast Asian traditions [ edit ] Alkaid is the easternmost star in the Big Dipper asterism. It is also known as Elkeid and Benetnash. It is a young main sequence star belonging to the spectral class B3 V, approximately 101 light years distant. It has an apparent magnitude of 1.85 and is the third brightest star in the constellation and also the 35th brightest star in the night sky. Alkaid is notable for being one of the hottest stars that can be seen without binoculars. It has a surface temperature of 20,000 kelvins. The star has six solar masses and is about 700 times more luminous than the Sun. Like Dubhe, Alkaid does not belong to the Ursa Major Moving Group. M109 has at least three satellite galaxies, UGC 6923, UGC 6940 and UGC 6969. It is the brightest galaxy in the M109 Group, a large group consisting of more than 50 galaxies in Ursa Major. NGC 5474