Tonight’s chart shows Polaris and the Big and Little Dippers for a September evening. Notice that a line from the two outermost stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper points to Polaris, the North Star. And notice that Polaris marks the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper. However, the Little Dipper will be probably difficult to see in tonight’s moonlight skies.
The Big Dipper swings full circle (360 degrees) around Polaris in about 23 hours and 56 minutes. In 24 hours, the Big Dipper actually swings more than full circle, or 361 degrees. At the same time each evening, the Big Dipper appears just a little bit lower in the northwest evening sky. A month from now at mid evening, the Big Dipper will be noticeably lower in the northern sky, even sinking beneath the horizon as seen from the southern latitudes in the United States.
September 2011 guide to the five visible planets
The constant motion from night to night of these stars circling Polaris is a bit like a bear circling its prey, looking for a way to attack. Several ancient cultures from the Greeks and Romans to the Micmac Indians likened these stars to a bear. In Greek myth, the Big Dipper asterism represents the hindquarters and tail of the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. The Micmacs saw the three stars of the Big Dipper handle as hunters chasing the bear.
The northern sky is a large clock, with Polaris at its center. The hour hand is a line drawn through Dubhe and Merak, the two pointer stars of the Big Dipper. Because the stars make a full circle in 23 hours 56 minutes instead of exactly 24 hours, this star clock is not exactly the same as the one on the wall, but with a little practice you can learn to read it well. Watch the Big and Little Dippers circle around Polaris tonight!
I notice the sky looks like the sun is about to come out but is not due till 5:30 or 6:00 am and is just 4:00 am also there is no moon or clowds to reflect the sky. Can someone xplain whats going on ? Is a clear sky and no wind
Dear N Mendosa,
It would be impossible to say anything for certain without knowing where you are located. There may be high, thin clouds that you cannot detect but which you are reflecting distant lights. Or if you are at a fairly high latitude, there is a slight chance that you may be experiencing the aurora. Otherwise I cannot say.
This is what the light is caused by:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiacal_light
looking straight at polaris i can see another light shining below. it stay,s there for about an hour and a half ,disapears ,and reapers left of the big dipper at about my nine o’clock it stay,s there for hours could be a satalite it dosen,t look like other star,s.
very curious
mart,
All I can tell you is that no satellite and no natural astronomical phenomena appears like what you describe. I do not know what you may be looking at, but it assuredly is not a (single) satellite, star or planet. You could be viewing two or more different objects. You say it doesn’t look like “other stars,” but what do you mean? What does it look like?
Sam is correct in that it well could be the zodiacal light (for N Mendosa), but any determination including the direction the light appears in. Overall, all reports of sights in the sky need to include the observer’s location and time, the direction the phenomena occurs and a description. Without all that as at least a minimum description, it is really difficult most of the time to say anything definitive.
I must commend EART Sky for the opportunity it provides us in understanding the universe and locating the objects. Ordinary binoculars I locate the Andromeda galaxy and saw that I have so far observed only in photographs. It is for me a great iskustvo.Pored addition, the Bosnian skies, which these days is crystal clear and moonless reap the benefits of observation and other objects with a note that with the binoculars I was able to see the explosion in new sazvje?dju Great Bear or Big Beeper. Hello customer sites and editors.
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Larry Sessions
Many times I have watched the Big Dipper, that is, in all seasons and all parts of the night, from the position above his head to the far north of where the stars of ore went down to the zenith. I noticed that my evening star distance in the position in the North, but when we Dipper above the head. Optical illusion or something else.
Nusret,
Is there a question here? I’m afraid I do not understand. Could you please rephrase it.
OK. To clarify the issue. When we look at the constellation the Great Bear from the south Polaris distances between the stars is noticeably smaller compared to the position of constellations with the northern side of the Polaris. The north as the constellation expands and becomes a bigger volume. I think you’ll understand the essence of my questions.
OK. To clarify the issue. When we look at the constellation the Great Bear from the south Polaris distances between the stars is noticeably smaller compared to the position of constellations with the northern side of the Polaris. The north as the constellation expands and becomes a bigger volume. I think you’ll understand the essence of my questions.
.
Nusret, then I would have to say that it is an illusion. It is the spatial positioning of the stars that gives the constellations their shapes. To an observer on Earth, no change of position or change of direction could affect that. In fact, even when we move from one side of Earths orbit, say in July, to the other, in January — a distance of 186,000,000 miles! — there is not enough change in angle to even measure, much less change the way a constellation appears.
I *do* think that the orientation of the constellation – -that is, whether it is high, or low or to one side or the other of Polaris — can cause the *apparent* shape to change. Perhaps your impression of the Great Bear as being smaller when it is below Polaris and larger when it is above could be caused by this, but it is just an optical illusion.
By the way, depending on where you live, for observers in the Northern Hemisphere, sometimes the Bear dips partly below the northern horizon when it passes under Polaris, so parts of it might not be seen.
I hope this helps.