The Big Dipper is one of the most recognizable star patterns in the night sky. It is high in the northern sky through the spring, summer and early fall, but now that we are deep into the season, the Dipper is sinking fast. To find it, face the northwestern sky between 5:30 and 6 p.m. The seven bright stars are laid out here in a spoon shape just above the rooftops and trees. To find the Big Dipper, face the northwestern sky between 5:30 and 6 p.m. The seven bright stars are laid out here in a spoon shape just above the rooftops and trees.Starrynight.com We Americans call it the Big Dipper. Other peoples throughout history have imagined these stars quite differently. In Central Europe it is a wagon, while in England it is a horse-drawn plow. Many Native Americans thought of the four stars of the bowl as bear and the three stars in the handle as hunters. If you look carefully their small hunting dog is next to the center star in the handle (in some stories the bear’s blood is what turns the color of the leaves in the fall). Arabic stargazers saw these stars as a funeral procession; the four bowl stars carried the casket while the three handle stars were three mourning maidens. As we head into winter, it is still above the horizon, but it drags along the northern skyline as the months go by. To give you an idea of how low it… [Read full story]
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