Download Physics 1040 Constellation paper

Running head: URSA MAJOR
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Physics 1040 Constellation paper
Ursa Major
Kyndle Pardun
Salt Lake Community College
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Abstract
I am writing this constellation paper on the constellation Ursa Major which is also called the
Great Bear. Although this is one of the largest constellations in the sky, the more well-known
part of this constellation, called an asterism, is the tail of the bear which we call the Big Dipper. I
will talk in this paper about the mythology behind the constellation and why it is called the Great
Bear, where it is located in the sky, when it is visible, and what kind of galaxies and other things
are visible in Ursa Major.
Keywords: Ursa Major, Constellations, Great Bear
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Physics 1040 Constellation paper
Ursa Major
Mythology:
The Greek mythology behind the constellation Ursa Major or the Great Bear is related to
Callisto who was a servant of the hunter Artemis, Callisto had given birth to a child by Zeus,
who was named Arcas. Artemis banished Callisto after the birth of Arcas for being impure. Hera,
who was Zeus’ wife, became very jealous and turned Callisto into a bear and she then ran into
the forest. Later in life Arcas, the son of Callisto and Zeus, had become a hunter and one day
while he was hunting Callisto heard her sons’ voice in the forest so she came running to him.
Right as Arcas was about to kill the bear, not knowing it was his mother, Zeus came and sent
both Callisto and Arcas into the sky as bears, to prevent the killing, these became known to us as
Ursa Major and Ursa Minor or the Great Bear and the Little Bear. It is said that Zeus threw both
Callisto and Arcas into the sky by their tails which is why both bears in the sky have very long
tails. This is only the Greek mythology of Ursa Major and like many of the constellations each
culture has their own story of how the stars and skies came to be (1).
Location:
Ursa Major is located in the Northern Hemisphere (NQ2) of the sky all year long it can
be seen between latitudes +90º and -30º. The Right Ascension of the Great Bear is 10.67 hours
and the Declination of the constellation is 55.38 degrees. Ursa Major is the third largest
constellation in the sky it covers 1280 square degrees of the sky and located near Ursa Major are
the constellations; Bootes, Camelopardalis, Draco, Leo, Leo Minor, Lynx, and Canes Venatici
(2). The Big Dipper is a well-known feature in the sky and often times confused for a
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constellation but it is actually an asterism. Once you find the Big Dipper it can be very useful for
directional purposes because it points to the North Star or Polaris which is a part of another wellknown asterism called the Little Dipper.
Objects of Interest:
Ursa Major actually contains seven Messier catalog objects, which are astronomical
objects that were cataloged by Charles Messier in his “Catalog of the Nebulae and Star Clusters”
The Messier objects are Messier 40, Messier 81(Bode’s Galaxy), Messier 82 (Cigar Galaxy),
Messier 97(Owl Nebula), Messier 101(Pinwheel Galaxy), Messier 108, and Messier 109. The
Ursa Major constellation also includes 13 stars with confirmed exoplanets (2). The brightest star
in Ursa Major is called Alioth which has a visible magnitude of 1.77(5). Due to the fact that Ursa
Major is such a large constellation there are actually two meteor showers associated with it,
Alpha Ursa Majorids which is visible during August 9th to the 30th the maximum is during
August 13th to the 14th during that meteors have the rate of four per hour(6). The Leonids-Ursids
is the other meteor shower the duration of which spans from March 18th to April 7th (3).
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Primary Stars: (Yale Bright Star Catalog)
Common Name
of star
RA
DEC
Magnitude
ALIOTH
12.00:54.00:1.74
+55.00:57.00:35.47
1.77
DUBHE
11.00:3.00:43.66
+61.00:45.00:3.22
1.79
ALKAID
13.00:47.00:32.43
+49.00:18.00:47.95
1.86
MIZAR
13.00:23.00:55.53
+54.00:55.00:31.38
2.27
MERAK
11.00:1.00:50.48
+56.00:22.00:56.65
2.37
PHECDA
11.00:53.00:49.83
+53.00:41.00:41.13
2.44
PSI UMA
11.00:9.00:39.79
+44.00:29.00:54.60
3.01
TANIA
AUSTRALIS
10.00:22.00:19.74
+41.00:29.00:58.26
3.05
TALITHA
8.00:59.00:12.44
+48.00:2.00:30.09
3.14
THE UMA
9.00:32.00:51.41
+51.00:40.00:38.38
3.17
MEGREZ
12.00:15.00:25.56
+57.00:1.00:57.42
3.31
MUSCIDA
8.00:30.00:15.87
+60.00:43.00:5.44
3.36
TANIA BOREALIS
10.00:17.00:5.79
+42.00:54.00:51.81
3.45
ALULA BOREALIS 11.00:18.00:28.73
+33.00:5.00:39.44
3.48
KAP UMA
9.00:3.00:37.52
+47.00:9.00:23.56
3.60
23 UMA
9.00:31.00:31.71
+63.00:3.00:42.70
3.67
CHI UMA
11.00:46.00:3.01
+47.00:46.00:45.90
3.71
UPS UMA
9.00:50.00:59.36
+59.00:2.00:19.45
3.80
24 UMA
9.00:34.00:28.87
+69.00:49.00:49.24
4.56
RHO UMA
9.00:2.00:32.70
+67.00:37.00:46.66
4.76
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References
1) http://starryskies.com/The_sky/constellations/ursa_major.html
2) http://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/ursa-major-constellation/
3) http://meteorshowersonline.com/showers/leonids_ursids.html
4) http://www.astronomical.org/constellations/uma.html
5) http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellations/Ursa_Major.html
6) http://meteorshowersonline.com/showers/alpha_ursa_majorids.html
7) http://www.sciencecenter.net/whatsup/06/umjstars.htm