It is a constellation visible in the Northern Hemisphere, throughout the year, and is best seen in April.
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| Ursa Major, The Great Bear |
Ursa Major is the third largest constellation in our sky. What you may be more familiar with however, are the seven stars which make up the
rump and tail of this animal. We know them as the Big Dipper, in the
United Kingdom, they are known as the Plough. Who knew that the big dipper is not a constellation? It is an asterism, which is a small easily recognizable formation that is usually part of a larger constellation? I sure didn't.
Mythology
One Greek myth tells that the nymph Callisto, a servant of the hunter
Artemis was made to bear a child by Zeus. Artemis banished Callisto for
impurity. Artemis gave birth to the child named Arcas.
This made Zeus'
wife Hera very jealous and in revenge, Hera turned Callisto into a bear
which ran away into the forest. Arcas grew up to become a hunter. One day
while he was hunting, the bear Callisto heard Arcas' voice and rushed
to greet her son.
Arcas, not knowing the bear was his mother was about
to kill her when Zeus intervened and sent both mother and son into the
sky as the Greater and Lesser Bears. The way Zeus got the bears into the
sky explains why their tails are so long, apparently Zeus grabbed them
by their tails and swung them around over his head and finally flung
them into the sky, and that is why these two bears have long tails!
Have you ever gazed into the sky and wondered how our constellations got their names? Or better yet, have you made up your own stories about how they got their names?
I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I feel it not. I believe in God even when He is silent. *Written on a wall in a concentration camp*
© 2012 Shannon M. King. This publication is the exclusive property of Shannon M. King and is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable international, federal, state and local laws. The contents of this post/story may not be reproduced as a whole or in part, by any means whatsoever, without consent of the author, Shannon M. King. All rights reserved.
