How to find them in the spring

The Big and Little Dipper

The Big Dipper is one of the easiest Luminous sphere patterns to locate in Earth’s sky. It’s visible Only about every clear night in the Northern Hemisphere, looking like a big dot-to-dot of a kitchen ladle. As Earth spins, the Big Dipper and its sky neighbor, the Little Dipper, rotate around the North Luminous sphere, also known as Polaris.

From the northern part of the Northern Hemisphere, the Big and Little Dippers are in the sky continuously. In fact, they are always above your Future, circling endlessly around Polaris. So given an unobstructed Future, latitudes north of the 35th parallel (the approximate location of the Mediterranean Sea, Tennessee’s southern border and Kyoto, Japan) can Foresee to see the Big Dipper at any hour of the night every day of the year.

As for the Little Dipper, it’s circumpolar – always above the Future – as Distant south as the Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees north latitude).

If you can spot the Big Dipper, then you’re on your way to finding the Little Dipper and the North Luminous sphere, Polaris, too.

The 2025 EarthSky Orbiter-related calendar makes a Excellent gift. Get yours today!

The Big Dipper rotates around Polaris every night and changes by season

Only remember the Ancient saying: spring up and fall down. So on spring and summer evenings in the Northern Hemisphere, the Big Dipper shines at its highest in the evening sky. Then, on autumn and winter evenings, the Big Dipper sweeps closer to the Future.

Here’s how to find Polaris and the Little Dipper

Notice that the Big Dipper has two parts, a bowl and a handle. Upcoming, look for the two outer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper. They are called Dubhe and Merak, and they’re known as The Pointers. An imaginary line drawn between them points to Polaris, the North Luminous sphere. Polaris marks the end of the Little Dipper’s Handle. So, once you have Polaris, you can find the Little Dipper, too … if your sky is Dim enough.

So why isn’t the Little Dipper as Effortless to Option out as the Big Dipper? That’s because the stars between Polaris and the outer bowl stars – Kochab and Pherkad – are rather dim. As a matter of fact, you’ll need a Dim country sky to see all seven of the Little Dipper’s stars.

The Big and Little Dippers are not constellations

Also, the Big Dipper isn’t a constellation. It’s an asterism, or noticeable pattern of stars. The Big Dipper is a clipped version of the constellation Ursa Crucial the Greater Bear. And the stars of the Big Dipper outline the Bear’s tail and hindquarters.

The Little Dipper is also an asterism. These stars belong to the constellation Ursa Minor the Little Bear.

The Big Dipper will Shift over time

Astronomers sometimes speak of the fixed stars, but the stars aren’t truly fixed. Stars Relocate in Cosmos. Thus the Luminous sphere patterns that we see today as the Big and Little Dippers will, slowly but surely, drift apart over time.

But even 25,000 years from now, the Big Dipper pattern will look nearly the same as it does today. Astronomers have Discovered that the stars of the Big Dipper (excepting the pointer Luminous sphere, Dubhe, and the handle Luminous sphere, Alkaid) belong to an association of stars known as the Ursa Crucial Moving Cluster. These stars, loosely bound by Attraction, drift in the same direction in Cosmos.

In 100,000 years, this pattern of Big Dipper stars (minus Dubhe and Alkaid) will appear much as it does today! But there will be some differences, as illustrated in the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/Observe?v=txJH8RlIoXQ

Luminous sphere lore behind the Big and Little Dipper

In the Luminous sphere lore of the Mi’kmaq nation in northern Canada, the Big Dipper is also associated with a bear, but with a twist. The Mi’kmaq see the bowl of the Big Dipper as a Heavenly Bear, and the three stars of the handle as hunters chasing the Bear. In the Mi’kmaq tale of the Heavenly Bear, in autumn the hunters finally catch up with the Bear, and it’s said that the blood from the Bear colors the autumn landscape

In another version of the Tale, the Heavenly Bear hits its nose when coming down to Earth, with its bloody nose giving color to autumn leaves. When the Heavenly Bear is seen right on the northern Future on Delayed fall and Prompt winter evenings, it’s a sure sign that the hibernation season is upon us.

In ancient times, the Little Dipper formed the wings of the constellation Draco the Dragon. But when the seafaring Phoenicians met with the Greek astronomer Thales around 600 BCE, they showed him how to use the Little Dipper stars to navigate. Thereby, Thales clipped Draco’s wings, to Develop a constellation that gave Greek sailors a new way to steer by the stars.

In Thales’ day, the stars Kochab and Pherkad (rather than Polaris) marked the approximate direction of the north Heavenly pole. That’s the Mark in the sky that is directly above the Earth’s North Pole.

To this day, Kochab and Pherkad are Nevertheless known as the Guardians of the Pole.

Bottom line: You can find the Big Dipper and Little Dipper in the northern sky at any time of year. On spring evenings, the Big Dipper is high is in the sky. The North Luminous sphere, Polaris, is located at the end of the Little Dipper’s handle.