What is the constellation Ursa major _ What is the constellation Ursa major?

Ursa Major (UMa) is an important constellation in the northern sky, with the third largest area in the whole day, second only to Ophiuchus and Virgo. Area 1280 square degrees, located near Ursa minor and Leo, opposite Cassiopeia. Suitable for spring observation, it is the constellation of the famous Big Dipper.

In ancient China, the seven bright stars in Ursa Major were considered to be in the shape of a spoon, which is what we often call the Big Dipper. You see, η, ζ and ε are the handles of the spoon, and four stars, α, β, γ and δ, make up the spoon body. In fact, when looking at the constellation Ursa major, the shape of the spoon is easier to see than the image of the bear. This big spoon is in the sky all year round, and the direction of the handle changes in different seasons, and one season happens to be one direction. In the words of the ancients, it is: "bucket handle refers to the east, and the world is spring; Bucket handle guide, the world is summer; Bucket handle refers to the west, and the world is autumn; Bucket handle refers to the north, and it is winter in the world. " There was no calendar in ancient times, so people used this method to calculate the four seasons. Of course, due to the rotation of the earth, this phenomenon must be seen after eight o'clock in the evening.

Ursa major is undoubtedly the most striking and important constellation in the northern sky, and astronomers all over the world attach great importance to it. We often say that "the sky is full of stars", which shows that China people simply regard Beidou as a synonym for the stars in the sky. Astronomers in ancient China gave each star of the Big Dipper a special name, especially called the four stars of the bucket α, β, γ and δ "Kui". Wei Xiao is the legendary Wenquxing. In ancient times, it was the god in charge of examinations. In the imperial examination era, it is the only way for children from poor families to get ahead. Every big exam, I don't know how many people look up to Beidou and pray silently!

The second star on the spoon handle is Zeta Star, which was called Kaiyang Star in ancient China. If you look carefully, you will find a dark star near it. This dark star is called Ursa Major 80. The ancients saw that it was always close to Kaiyang Star, just like the patron saint of Kaiyang Star, so it was called Fu. Kaiyang star and auxiliary star form a pair of binary stars.

At different latitudes of the earth, the constellations you can see are different. The constellation Ursa major can be seen all year round in areas above 40 north latitude, that is, north of Beijing and Greece. However, in spring, Ursa major hangs high in the northern sky, which is the best time to watch it in four seasons.

In China, people imagine these stars on the map of Ursa Major as the image of a big bear. At different latitudes of the earth, the constellations you can see are different. The constellation Ursa major can be seen all year round in areas above 40 north latitude, that is, to the north of Beijing and Greece. However, in spring, Ursa major hangs high in the northern sky, which is the best time to watch it in four seasons.

In Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Ursa major symbolizes power and destiny. Oriental mythology

Beidou Shen Jun

In ancient China, the Big Dipper was called the God of the Big Dipper. There is a saying that the palm of the Big Dipper holds the power of life and death. It is said that Peng Zu begged the Big Dipper for mercy, so he lived to be 800 years old. It is also said that the Big Dipper has nine planets, two of which are hidden in a bucket, where the Jade Emperor is a god and is not easy to be seen. If someone sees it, he can prolong his life. It is said that Huo Guang, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, had a servant.

greek mythology

Mothers and children are affectionate-cowardly fathers.

There is a goddess named Crystal. She is gentle and beautiful. Zeus likes her very much. After various pursuits, she gave birth to a son named Arcaz. Hera, the jealous queen, flew into a rage when she learned about it. She turned Crystal into a big bear and rushed into the forest. Arcaz, who lost his mother when he was a child, became a very good hunter when he grew up, but he didn't know what happened to his mother. One day, Hera asked Axe to meet his mother bear in the forest. When her mother saw her son who had been missing for many years, she was so excited that she forgot that she had become a big bear that she couldn't help rushing to arcas. Arcaz thought the bear was going to hurt him, so he immediately raised an arrow to shoot it. Just when the mistake of killing his mother was about to be caused, Zeus broke through the knot of guilt and timidity, and turned Arcaz into a little bear and put it in the sky as the constellation Ursa major, so that their mother and son could be together forever. But the story is not over, and the queen still hasn't given up. With the help of the gods, she drove Ursa Major and Ursa Minor near the North Pole, forcing them to revolve around the North Pole day and night, without a moment's peace, while other constellations in the sky could sink to the bottom of the sea for half a day.

The origin of Ursa major and Ursa minor.

In ancient Greek myths and legends, there was a beautiful and kind girl named Crystal, who was the most touching among the fairies around the moon god and hunting goddess themis. But she never relied on it. She is always very kind to every partner, and let everyone feel her heartfelt care from time to time. People also like her very much, and everyone has a carefree and happy time together.

Callisto is unique in that there is a resolute character under her gentle appearance. Unlike other fairies, she wandered around the stream all day, strolled in the garden, recited poems and danced. She always wears a mighty hunting suit, carries a bow on her shoulder, and holds A Jin hair, bravely following Al themis to chase wild animals in the mountains and forests. The tiger's roar made all the animals tremble, but it didn't scare her, and the cunning fox couldn't escape her vigorous skill. She became Al themis's most effective and trusted assistant.

On a hot summer day, callisto drove wild animals to a clearing. Hot and tired, she lay in the shade and soon fell into a deep sleep. All this was seen by Zeus Almighty. In ancient Greek mythology, Zeus was the biggest god in the sky and the father of the gods. He is supreme and admired by all things, but he often does shady things. It is common for him to secretly seduce the goddess in the sky and the beauty on the earth.

Zeus was surprised to see the beautiful Callisto lying on the green grass, and he naturally refused to miss such an opportunity. He flew down from the clouds and became the image of Al themis. He approached Crystal gently and held her in his arms. Crystal woke up from her dream and was inexpressibly happy to see Artemis in this remote place. Was about to stand up and continue hunting with themis when Zeus suddenly showed his true colors. Poor callisto was unprepared. She fought hard, but to no avail. After all, Zeus is omnipotent. Although Callisto has the ability to subdue dragons and tigers, it still can't escape Zeus' clutches.

Zeus proudly returned to the Heavenly Palace. As the master of the universe, he will naturally not be punished or rewarded. Unfortunately, it can only be innocent Callisto! She wiped away her tears and silently returned to everyone. I can't tell you how painful I am, but I have to smile in front of everyone. However, old Callisto will never see it again. She always lowers her head and looks at the ground in shame; The smile on his face disappeared, and he often sat silently away from everyone; When hunting, I don't have the courage and aura to watch the prey slip away from my eyes.

To make matters worse, she found herself pregnant. No matter how to hide it, finally one day, everyone still knows the secret. Artemis, who knew nothing about it, was furious. Although she regarded Crystal as her daughter, she couldn't restrain her anger and drove her out of the hunting ground.

Helpless callisto built a thatched shed deep in the forest and settled down. He can no longer see the laughter of his sisters and hear the call of the goddess. Soon after, she gave birth to a boy and named him Arcas, which became a little sustenance in her life.

Zeus thought it was secret and no one would know. However, when God also miscalculated, his wife Hera, the queen of God, heard about it. Hera was born in a noble family and was arrogant since childhood. Even Zeus sometimes had to respect her. Zeus did such an ugly thing behind her back. Little Achatz was born and was walking with his mother! Hera, who has always been uncompromising, is going crazy. She vowed to punish Crystal with her magic and let her know the majesty of Tianhou.

Hera came to the woodland where Crystal lived and swore at her as soon as she saw her. Regardless of Crystal's pleading, she threw her to the ground by pulling her hair and said cruelly, "I'm going to ruin your beauty so that you can't be charming anymore!" "

While speaking, Hera secretly cast a spell. Suddenly, Callisto's snow-white arm grew long and thick black hair, delicate fingers turned into sharp claws, and delicate red lips suddenly turned into maw. Hera is still not Japanese. She was afraid that Crystal's prayer would be heard by Zeus, so she was deprived of the ability to speak and turned the silvery voice into a dull roar. In a blink of an eye, the angelic Callisto disappeared forever and she became a big bear.

Poor Crystal wanted to cry, but she kept wailing, lamenting her tragic fate and cursing the heartless Zeus. Once upon a time, that brave hunter has become a beast chased by hunters, hiding in the deep mountains and forests all day, and there is no peaceful time in the past.

Time flies, fifteen years have passed. Little Achatz grew up to be a beautiful young man, as brave and determined as his mother, and became an excellent hunter. One day, Hera happened to meet Achatz. The son of her enemy is so handsome. More than ten years ago, the evil spirit came to my mind, and a deadly trap was born in her heart.

One day, Achatz was looking for prey in the forest with a pike in his hand. Suddenly, a big bear came slowly towards him. This bear is Callisto. She recognized that the brave hunter in front of her was the little Achatz she had been missing for fifteen years. She excitedly ran to hug her baby.

God, how could Achatz think that this bear in front of him is his mother who has been lost for fifteen years! Seeing such a big bear coming at him, he flashed back excitedly, raised his spear and stabbed the bear with all his strength.

Seeing a tragedy is about to happen. Fortunately, Zeus, who was touring the sky at this time, saw this scene. He really couldn't bear to let his son kill his mother himself. So he turned Achatz into a bear with a little magic. In this way, little Achatz immediately recognized his mother. He came running affectionately and snuggled up in his mother's arms, and the mother and son were happily reunited.

In order not to let the mother and son suffer any more accidents, Zeus lifted them to the sky and gave them two brilliant positions among the stars, namely Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, which shone brilliantly in the northern sky.

Hera stole the chicken and wasted the rice. She was furious, but she couldn't anger Zeus, so she sent a hunter with two fierce hounds to chase the two bears. This hunter is the shepherd in the sky, and the two hounds he leads are the dog constellation.

The ancient Greeks saw this big bear wandering in the sky every night and never fell below the horizon. They think this must be Hera's trick again. It turned out that Hera sent hunters and hounds to hunt down the mother and son, but she still refused to give up. She came to the blue sea again and asked her brother Poseidon for help. Poseidon listened to his sister's story and agreed to her request. So we can see that other constellations have the phenomenon of rising east and setting west. Once in a while, they sank below the horizon and went to Poseidon's territory to rest. Except for two bears. But fortunately, Crystal can stay with her Achatz all the time, so that Hera won't come up with any bad ideas. Because of the existence of the Big Dipper (from Alpha Ursa major to η Ursa major, except for Delta Ursa major, the other six are bright stars above second star), Ursa major is probably the most famous constellation in the whole day. The first two stars of the Big Dipper, α and β, are signs for finding the North Star, and the connection between these two stars directly points to the North Pole.

The second star with spoon handle (ζ Ursa major) is actually a cluster star, and we can see a fourth-class companion star Alcor with naked eyes. Through the small telescope, we can also see another star near Ursa major, which is also a 4-star. In fact, these three stars are each a binary system, so this is a six-star system. Another interesting thing is Ursa major ξ, which is a binary star system, consisting of two * * stars, moving with each other for 60 years. This constellation has two spiral galaxies: M8 1 of 8 and M 10 1 of 9.

47 stars in Ursa major:

By careful measurement and patient waiting, astronomers have discovered more than 70 exoplanet systems so far. These exoplanets either have very flat orbits, are very close to their parent stars, or are in very bad star systems. However, the newly discovered planetary system is slightly different. With 47 stars, Ursa Major is a star very similar to the sun. It has at least two planets with nearly circular orbits, and its mass is also very close to Jupiter and Saturn. In other words, Ursa Major with 47 stars is very similar to our familiar solar system. Although these planets are too far and too dark for us to see directly, after 13 years of spectral observation, astronomers finally found evidence of the existence of the second planet from the shaking characteristics of 47 stars in Ursa Major. The above picture shows the artist's imagination of the 47-star system Ursa Major. In the image, the parent star and the planet hang high above the rugged volcanic landform of the imaginary satellite. This imaginary satellite orbits a new planet, which has a ring system. The outer planet discovered a few years ago is closer to its home star and has a crescent-shaped phase. There is also a thin point closer to the 47-star Ursa major, which represents an imaginary water world very similar to the earth. The star Ursa Major 47 is located near the Big Dipper, about 5 1 light-year away.

Ursa major 80 stars:

Ursa major is a star in China. The apparent magnitude is 4.03. Western names mean "faint one" in Arabic, while Arabs (and other nationalities) use the naked eye to see auxiliary stars as a way to test their eyesight. It and the brighter Kaiyang (Kaiyang, the star in the middle of the Big Dipper bucket handle) form a visual binary star, also called horse and rider.