Fig. 370.
Fig. 371.
329. The Great Bear.—The Great Bear, or Ursa Major, is one of the circumpolar constellations (4), and contains one of the most familiar asterisms, or groups of stars, in our sky; namely, the Great Dipper, or Charles's Wain. The positions and names of the seven prominent stars in it are shown in Fig. 370. The two stars Alpha and Beta are called the Pointers. This asterism is sometimes called the Butcher's Cleaver. The whole constellation is shown in Fig. 371. A rather faint star marks the nose of the bear, and three equidistant pairs of faint stars mark his feet.
330. The Little Bear, Draco, and Cassiopeia.—These are all circumpolar constellations. The most important star of the Little Bear, or Ursa Minor, is Polaris, or the Pole Star. This star may be found by drawing a line from Beta to Alpha of the Dipper, and prolonging it as shown in Fig. 372. This explains why these stars are called the Pointers. The Pole Star, with the six other chief stars of the Little Bear, form an asterism called the Little Dipper. These six stars are joined with Polaris by a dotted line in Fig. 372.
Fig. 372.
The stars in a serpentine line between the two Dippers are the chief stars of Draco, or the Dragon; the trapezium marking its head. Fig. 373 shows the constellations of Ursa Minor and Draco as usually figured.
Fig. 373.