Constellation, Little Bear
Ursa Minor
The Little Bear, also called the Little Dipper. Polaris, the north pole star, sits at the tip of its tail.
From New York, Ursa Minor never sets: it circles the pole and is highest at 2:44 PM on October 13, 2026, 53° above the horizon in the N.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Ursa Minor. 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 Greeks said the Little Bear was first named by Thales of Miletus in the sixth century BC. The poet Callimachus wrote that Thales ‘measured out the little stars of the Wain by which the Phoenicians sail’. Homer never mentions it. Aratus noted that although it is smaller and fainter than the Great Bear, it lies closer to the pole and so is a better guide to north. He called it Kynosoura, ‘dog’s tail’, which gave English the word cynosure, a guiding star. In one Greek story the two bears are the nymphs who nursed the baby Zeus on Crete, and the Little Bear is Ida.
Polaris has not always been the pole star. In Ptolemy’s time no bright star stood near the pole. Precession has slowly carried the pole towards it, and the name ‘stella polaris’ first appeared in print in 1492. The two stars at the end of the bowl, Kochab and Pherkad, are called the Guards of the Pole. Arab astronomers saw them as two calves.
Sources: Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Ursa Minor
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polaris | α UMi | 1.97 | 433 light-years |
| Kochab | β UMi | 2.07 | 131 light-years |
| Pherkad | γ UMi | 3.00 | 487 light-years |
| ε UMi | ε UMi | 4.21 | 304 light-years |
| 5 UMi | 5 UMi | 4.25 | 359 light-years |
| ζ UMi | ζ UMi | 4.29 | 369 light-years |
| Yildun | δ UMi | 4.35 | 172 light-years |
| HIP 73199 | HIP 73199 | 4.63 | 459 light-years |
| 4 UMi | 4 UMi | 4.80 | 457 light-years |
| η UMi | η UMi | 4.95 | 97 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 255 square degrees (56 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | UMi |
| Sky | Northern sky |
| Origin | Listed in Ptolemy’s Almagest, about AD 150, as Arktos Mikra, the Little Bear |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 11 |
| Centre (J2000) | 15.3 h, 78° |
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.
No deep-sky object brighter than magnitude 9.
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.