What constellation is the Big Dipper? The constellation of the Big Dipper-Ursa Major.

Ursa major is located near Ursa minor and Ursa major, opposite Cassiopeia, suitable for spring observation. It is the constellation where the famous Big Dipper is located, and it is the third in the whole sky, second only to Ophiuchus and Virgo.

Observation characteristics 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 is high in the northern sky, which is the best time to watch its panorama in four seasons. Ursa major ranks third in the whole sky, second only to Ophiuchus and Virgo. 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.

Appearance features In fact, when looking at the constellation Ursa major, the shape of the spoon is easier to see than the image of the bear. The spoon is in the sky all year round, and the direction of the spoon handle changes in different seasons, just one direction in a season. 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.

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 imaginary 47-star system in 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 with a ring system. The outer planet discovered a few years ago is closer to the yellow parent star and has a crescent 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 is 80 stars, which is the auxiliary of Chinese stars. The apparent magnitude is 4.03. It and the brighter Kaiyang (the star in the middle of the Big Dipper bucket handle) form a visual binary star, also called the horse and the knight.