Constellation, Great Bear
Ursa Major
The Great Bear, home of the Plough or Big Dipper. In the best-known Greek myth it is Callisto, a huntress whom jealous Hera turned into a bear.
From New York, Ursa Major never sets: it circles the pole and is highest at 10:18 AM on October 13, 2026, 76° above the horizon in the N.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Ursa Major. Drag to look around.
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Evening visibility over the year
Height of the constellation’s centre above the horizon at 10 pm local time on the 15th of each month, from New York. Above about 30° it is well placed.
Name and history
The seven bright stars of the Plough, or Big Dipper, form the bear’s rump and tail. In the version Ovid made famous, Callisto was a huntress in the band of Artemis. Zeus seduced her, and she bore a son, Arcas. Jealous Hera turned her into a bear. Years later Arcas almost speared the bear. Zeus swept them both into the sky as Ursa Major and Boötes. Hera then persuaded the sea gods never to let the bear bathe, so it never sets from mid-northern lands. Other writers say Artemis or Zeus made the change. Aratus saw the bear as a nymph who nursed the baby Zeus.
No myth explains why these stars became a bear, or why it has a long tail. One historian suggests that the Greek arktos, meaning both ‘bear’ and ‘north’, was later read the wrong way. The Romans saw seven plough oxen, and the Arabs a coffin followed by three mourners. All seven Dipper stars carry Arabic names. Dubhe means ‘the bear’, and the pair Mizar and Alcor were an ancient eyesight test.
Sources: Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Ursa Major, Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Ursa Major (part 2)
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alioth | ε UMa | 1.76 | 83 light-years |
| Dubhe | α UMa | 1.81 | 123 light-years |
| Alkaid | η UMa | 1.85 | 104 light-years |
| Mizar | ζ UMa | 2.23 | 86 light-years |
| Merak | β UMa | 2.34 | 80 light-years |
| Phecda | γ UMa | 2.41 | 83 light-years |
| ψ UMa | ψ UMa | 3.00 | 145 light-years |
| Tania Australis | μ UMa | 3.06 | 230 light-years |
| Talitha | ι UMa | 3.12 | 47 light-years |
| θ UMa | θ UMa | 3.17 | 44 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 1,280 square degrees (3 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | UMa |
| Sky | Northern sky |
| Origin | Listed in Ptolemy’s Almagest, about AD 150, as Arktos Megale, the Great Bear |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 39 |
| Centre (J2000) | 10.9 h, 54° |
Deep-sky objects
Galaxies, clusters and nebulae brighter than magnitude 9, from the OpenNGC catalogue. Most need binoculars or a telescope and a dark sky.
Boundaries: International Astronomical Union, via Astronomy Engine. Areas are computed from the boundaries by sampling (within about one percent). Names and lines: Stellarium. Stars: HYG Database. Deep-sky objects: OpenNGC. Calculated with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library verified against the US Naval Observatory and NASA JPL. Data sources
How to use this page
Choose your place and a night at the top. The answer and the 3D view show where the constellation is, when it is highest and whether it rises at all from where you are. The chart shows its stars and lines, and the tables list its brightest stars and the deep-sky objects inside it.
Frequently asked questions
When is a constellation best seen?
When it is highest in a dark sky, which the page gives for the night you pick. Each constellation is best placed in a particular season, because the stars rise about four minutes earlier every night.
Why can I not see a constellation from my place?
Constellations far south of the celestial equator never rise from northern places, and those far north never rise from southern ones. The page says when this is the case.
What are the constellation boundaries?
The International Astronomical Union divides the sky into 88 areas with official boundaries. The stick figures are only a drawing aid, the boundaries say which constellation a point in the sky belongs to.
Related guides
- How to learn the constellationsStart with one bright pattern you cannot miss, use it as a signpost to its neighbours, and come back a month later: the sky will have turned, and you will know a little more of it.
- Altitude and azimuth: finding things in the skyTwo angles tell you exactly where to look: which direction, and how high.
- Light pollution and dark skies: the Bortle scaleFrom a city centre you can count a few dozen stars. From a truly dark site you can count a few thousand, with the Milky Way bright enough to cast a shadow. The Bortle scale puts a number on the difference.
- Binoculars for stargazing: what to buy and what to look atA pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars shows the craters of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, dozens of star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy, for a fraction of the cost of a telescope.