Find it in the sky
Draw a line from Merak to Dubhe at the end of the Dipper’s bowl and go on five times as far: you reach the Pole Star. Seen all year from mid-northern latitudes.
Northern sky
Great Bear
Ursa Major
The Big Dipper: seven stars that point north.
Best in April, around 9 p.m.No. 3 of the 88 constellations by areaBrightest star Alioth (magnitude 1.77)7 stars in this guide
The drawings on these maps are the game’s, and don’t show exact positions in the sky.
Legend
Zeus falls for Callisto, a nymph of Artemis; when she bears him a son, Arcas, Hera turns her into a bear. Zeus at last lifts mother and son into the sky: Callisto as the Great Bear, Arcas as Boötes.
Its stars
Magnitude says how bright a star looks from here: the smaller the number, the brighter the star.
Dubhe
Alpha Ursae Majoris
- Type
- Orange giant
- Distance
- about 123 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 1.79
- Name
- “Bear” (Arabic)
With Merak it is a pointer: join the two and carry on to find the North Star.
Merak
Beta Ursae Majoris
- Type
- White star
- Distance
- about 79 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 2.37
- Name
- “Loins” (Arabic)
Points to the North Star with Dubhe. A warm disc of dust circles it.
Phecda
Gamma Ursae Majoris
- Type
- White star
- Distance
- about 83 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 2.44
- Name
- “Thigh” (Arabic)
One of the Dipper’s middle five, a family of stars born and moving together.
Megrez
Delta Ursae Majoris
- Type
- White star
- Distance
- about 81 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 3.31
- Name
- “Root of the tail” (Arabic)
The faintest of the Big Dipper’s seven, where the bowl meets the handle.
Alioth
Epsilon Ursae Majoris
- Type
- White star
- Distance
- about 83 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 1.77
- Name
- “Sheep’s tail” (Arabic; uncertain)
The Great Bear’s brightest star, the first in the Dipper’s handle.
Mizar
Zeta Ursae Majoris
- Type
- White star
- Distance
- about 83 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 2.23
- Name
- “Apron” (Arabic)
With faint Alcor beside it, it was an old eyesight test. The first double star ever photographed.
Alkaid
Eta Ursae Majoris
- Type
- Blue-white star
- Distance
- about 104 light years
- Brightness
- magnitude 1.86
- Name
- “The leader” (Arabic)
The tip of the handle and the Dipper’s hottest star; not of the middle five’s family.
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Sources: constellation areas follow the International Astronomical Union (IAU) boundaries; star values come from Wikipedia’s articles, based on Hipparcos and Gaia; the Sun’s dates come from EarthSky. Distances are rounded.