The Legend of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor

Ursa minor represents Akka, the son of Zeus. Once, Zeus fell in love with a Zhu Fu named Caristo, and soon Caristo became pregnant and gave birth to Zeus' son Aka. After learning this, the angry diva Hera changed karis into a big bear, and she had to live in the forest.

Many years later, Caristo's son Aka grew up and became an excellent hunter. On this day, Aka was hunting in the forest. Caristo recognized her son, but forgot that she was a bear. She ran to him involuntarily.

However, Aka didn't know that this terrible bear was his mother, so he raised his pike and pointed it at the bear. At this dangerous moment, Zeus quickly turned Aka into a bear.

Achatz, who became a bear, recognized his mother, thus avoiding a tragedy of killing relatives. Later, Zeus took two bears to heaven and gave them two glorious positions among the stars, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

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Research history of Ursa major

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.

Constellation characteristics of Ursa minor

Connecting the seven bright stars in Ursa major can form a bucket similar to the Big Dipper in Ursa major, so these seven stars are also called Ursa minor. Bucket handle begins with Alpha Ursa minor, which is now the Polaris, indicating the north celestial pole.

Polaris can be found by drawing a straight line from the two stars β (Tian Xuan) and α (Shu Tian) in the constellation Ursa Major and extending it to five times the distance between the two stars.

Baidu encyclopedia-Ursa major

Baidu encyclopedia-Ursa major