Have you ever wanted to find the Big Dipper but just couldn’t spot it? Then today’s chart is for you. It shows the Big Dipper on an evening in March, ascending in the northeast during the evening hours. See the Dipper shape? The handle of the Dipper is pointing down toward the horizon as it rises.

An ancient eye test for those wishing to join the Roman army involved spotting stars in the handle of our modern-day Big Dipper. You can take this ancient eye test, too.

Go outside around 9 p.m. You should see the Big Dipper just off the northeast horizon. The middle star in the “tail” of the question mark is Mizar. If you look for a couple seconds longer, you may see a little starry point right next to Mizar. This star is called Alcor. If you had lived in the time of the early Romans and could see Alcor, you would have been eligible to be an archer in the Roman army. If not, you likely would have served in another capacity for the Caesar. It’s said that sultans of the past also tested their soldiers’ eyesight in this way.

Mizar and Alcor are a “visual double” star. There are an estimated three light-years between Mizar (78 light years away) and Alcor (81 light years away). This three-light-year distance makes it unlikely that Mizar and Alcor are gravitationally bound to each other. Mizar is a true multiple star, though. It has several companion stars that are gravitationally bound to it and revolve around it.