Sky Tonight—March 3, Recognize the Big Dipper … and Little Dipper
This is a great time of year to begin looking for the Big Dipper in the evening.
EarthSky Tonight—Nov 12, Big Dipper, aka Sky Bear, comes to Earth on November evenings
Every year, the Big Dipper (Great Bear) descends to its lowest point in the sky on November evenings. In fact, people in the southern part of the United States can’t…
Earthsky Tonight—July 1: Big Dipper points to Polaris, helps find Thuban
As night deepens, and the fainter stars of the Little Dipper spring into view, those of you with dark-enough skies can expect to see a winding stream of stars between…
Earthsky Tonight—March 13, Use the Big Dipper to locate the Hunting Dogs
You can locate the Big Dipper in the northeast in mid- to late evening around now. The Big Dipper is part of the constellation Ursa Major, the Greater Bear. In…
Earthsky Tonight — March 4, 2010: Recognize the Big Dipper … and Little Dipper
How can I locate both Ursa Minor and Ursa Major? I am seeing one of them in the sky . . . but cannot tell which one and where the…
Earthsky Tonight — March 3, 2010: Use the Big Dipper to locate Polaris
At one time, sailors’ livelihoods and survival depended on their lucky stars – most especially, the pointer stars of the Big Dipper. Drawing a line through the two outer stars…