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Winter: Orion   Canis Major   Canis Minor   Monoceros   Lepus   Eridanus   Taurus   Auriga   Camelopardalis   Lynx   Gemini   Cancer

Spring: Hydra   Sextans   Crater   Corvus   Leo   Leo Minor   Ursa Major   Ursa Minor   Canes Venatici   Coma Berenices   Virgo   Bootes

Summer: Draco   Corona Borealis   Hercules   Ophiuchus   Serpens   Libra   Scorpius   Sagittarius   Scutum   Aquila   Sagitta   Vulpecula   Lyra   Cygnus

Autumn: Andromeda   Perseus   Pegasus   Cassiopeia   Cephus   Cetus   Lacerta   Delphinus   Equuleus   Capricornus   Aquarius   Pisces   Aries

Southern Skies: Centaurus   Crux   Lupus   Corona Australis   Piscis Australis   Sculptor   Tucana   Fornax   Dorado   Columba   Puppis   Carina   Vela

(alphabetical links)

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URSA MINOR

The Little Bear

Ursa Minor - Celestial Atlas by Alexander Jamieson - 1822

Ursa Minor (the little bear) contains arguably the most important star in the heavens: Polaris, commonly known as the North Star. The star is found at the end of the backwards handle of the Little Dipper, which is actually the very long tail of the Little Bear.The easiest way to locate the North Star is to use the two stars on the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper, (which is part of the constellation Ursa Major, the Big Bear), as pointers.

Polaris just happens to be positioned almost exactly where Earth's northern axis points off into space, so as Earth turns on its axis, Polaris appears to stand still, and all the other stars seem to rotate around it. Since Polaris can always be found virtually in the same place, it is a perfect, steadfast beacon that has guided travelers through the ages.

In 1780, Astronomer William Herschel discovered that Polaris had a small companion star revolving around it, named Polaris B, making it a binary, or two-star system, as seen in the Hubble photo below left. In January, 2006, the Hubble Space Telescope found a third star, named Polaris Ab, orbiting much nearer Polaris A, shown in the close-up image below right. This new star makes Polaris now a triple star system.

Polaris Triple Star System - Hubble Space Telescope - January, 2006

The Polaris system is 430 light years away. Polaris A is an F7 supergiant star, 2,000 times brighter than our Sun. Polaris B is a much smaller main sequence star orbiting Polaris A at a distance of 240 billion miles. The new discovery, Polaris Ab, is also an average main sequence star, much like our Sun. And although from our vantage point it appears to be right beside Polaris A, it is actually over two billion miles away from it.

The two stars that form the front of the bowl of the Little Dipper, named Kochab and Pherkad, are known as the Guardians of the Pole, as referenced below in Shakespeare's Othello.

The guardian star Pherkad is in fact two stars close together named Pherkad Major (mag. 3.05), and Pherkad Minor (mag. 5.02). In August, 2009, a planet was discovered in orbit around Pherkad Minor. It is a massive planet, over ten times the size of Jupiter, but it's a pretty safe bet there are other, smaller planets there as well, that will be discovered in time.

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Alphabetical Links to the Constellations

ANDROMEDA   AQUARIUS   AQUILA   ARIES   AURIGA   BOOTES   CAMELOPARDALIS   CANCER   CANES VENATICI   CANIS MAJOR   CANIS MINOR   CAPRICORNUS   CARINA   CASSIOPEIA   CENTAURUS   CEPHEUS   CETUS   COLUMBA   COMA BERENICES   CORONA AUSTRALIS   CORONA BOREALIS   CORVUS   CRATER   CRUX   CYGNUS   DELPHINUS   DORADO   DRACO   EQUULEUS   ERIDANUS   FORNAX   GEMINI   HERCULES   HYDRA   LACERTA   LEO   LEO MINOR   LEPUS   LIBRA   LUPUS   LYNX   LYRA   MONOCEROS   OPHIUCHUS   ORION   PEGASUS   PERSEUS   PISCES   PISCIS AUSTRALIS   PUPPIS   SAGITTA   SAGITTARIUS   SCORPIUS   SCULPTOR   SCUTUM   SERPENS   SEXTANS   TAURUS   TUCANA   URSA MAJOR   URSA MINOR   VELA   VIRGO   VULPECULA