Common+Constellations

=Ursa Major:= Ursa Major, also known as the Plough, the Wagon, The Great Bear, or Charle's Wain, is the third largest constellation in the sky. As one of the easiest constellations to recognize, it is usually used to find other constellations. It can only be seen from northern latitudes, and on a clear night, it is easy to spot. The Big Dipper, a group of stars that resemble a large dipper, is not a constellation. The Big Dipper actually makes up the constellation Ursa Major, a constellation which resembles a bear. The end of the bear, also known as the Big Dipper, is made up of seven stars: Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid. There are many myths behind Ursa Major. The most common myth about Ursa Major is a Greek myth that says a servant to Artemis, Callisto, had a son, Arcas, with Zeus, the most powerful Greek god. Hera, Zeus's wife, became jealous and turned Callisto into a bear. Arcas soon grew up and became a hunter. One day he went hunting and saw his mother. He was about to kill her, when Zeus turned Arcas into a bear as well. Then, Zeus grabbed their tails and flung them into the sky, creating the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. This myth was told to describe why the bears were there, and why they had unusually long tails. =Ursa Minor:= Ursa Minor, also known as the Little Dipper, is another easy constellation to recognize. The Little Dipper is made up of some of the brightest stars in Ursa Major, even though the stars in Ursa Minor are particularly faint, aside from Polaris. Polaris, also known as the North Star, is located at the handle. Polaris, one of the brightest stars in the sky, is used to locate other constellations. Like Ursa Major, =Orion:= Orion is known as the Great Hunter constellation. It is also one of the easiest constellations to recognize. It is made up of seven stars. Orion's belt is the easiest to see because it is made up some of the brightest stars. Greek myths say that Orion and Artemis, daughter of Zeus and goddess of the hunt, were lovers. Apollo, Artemis's brother, didn't like Apollo, so he sent a scorpion to chase him into the sea. Apollo shined a light on Orion's back, and made a bet with his sister to see if she could hit it. She unknowningly killed Orion. When his body washed to shore, Artemis asked her father, Zeus, for Orion to be placed in the sky forever. He is shown wearing a lion skin with a club in his hand, and his dog, Sirius, at his side.

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