ursa major | EarthSky

Dots and lines making the shape of the Big Dipper plus the longer form including the head and legs of Ursa Major.

Ursa Major the Great Bear, home to the Big Dipper

Ursa Major the Great Bear is in Northern Hemisphere skies and is home to the asterism of the Big Dipper, which you can use to find other constellations.

M81 and M82: A spiral galaxy and cigar-shaped galaxy with blue tendrils interacting.

M81 and M82 as never seen before

Get a fresh look at galaxies M81 and M82 in Ursa Major. These incredible images combine hours of exposures and processing for a look at fine structures.

Visible planets and night sky guide for May

Visible planets and night sky guide. Look for the moon near Leo this evening. And don't miss Deborah Byrd's video about Venus and Jupiter!

loudy band of Milky Way arching over desert hills and tower-like rock formations.

Which moon phase is best for stargazing? That depends.

Which moon phase is best for stargazing? Most astronomers would tell you that the best moon is no moon. But it depends on what you want to see.

Meteor shower guide 2026: Up next … the Arietids

Up next is the daytime Arietid meteor shower, you might catch some before dawn on the mornings around June 10. Try to block out the waxing crescent moon.

A yellowish galaxy, brighter in the middle, seen almost on edge with tick marks pointing at a star near the center.

See the best deep-sky photos of April 2026

Enjoy this gallery of deep-sky photos for April 2026 from our EarthSky community. If you have a great photo to share, we'd love to see it!

Many short glowing streaks in a mostly dark sky. One has a bright explosion at its end.

Meteor showers are here! 10 easy tips for watching

Meteor showers are unpredictable but nothing beats them for a fun and relaxing time under the stars. Here are our 10 tips to optimize your meteor viewing time.

Star chart: Big Dipper with pink arrows from handle to Arcturus and then to Spica.

Follow the arc to Arcturus, then speed on to Spica

If you only ever learn 1 star mnemonic, make it this one! Arc to Arcturus and speed on to Spica to identify 2 of the sky's brightest stars.

A spherical cluster with a myriad bright stars, densely white at the center and less dense at the edges.

See the best deep-sky photos of March 2026

Enjoy this gallery of deep-sky photos for March 2026 from our EarthSky community. If you have a great photo to share, send it in, too. We love to see them!

A red arrow from 2 stars in the Big Dipper to the star Polaris, in the Little Dipper.

The Big and Little Dipper: How to find them in spring

You can spot the Big and Little Dipper in the northern sky year-round. Follow the Big Dipper’s pointer stars to find Polaris and the Little Dipper.

Coma Berenices: See how Leo the Lion lost his tail

Coma Berenices is the constellation of Queen Berenice's Hair. It used to be the tail of Leo the Lion before it became its own constellation.

Large, pinkish, multi-armed glowing spiral with at least 4 loosely-wound arms and hundreds of foreground stars.

What’s a galaxy? All you need to know about galaxies

What is a galaxy? We live in a galaxy called the Milky Way. But there is so much more to know about these grand and glorious star islands in space!

Chart: Lines connecting 8 dots more or less in a row. Two labeled dots (stars) at lower right.

Meet the constellation Lynx, overhead in March

The constellation Lynx represents a wild cat and passes high overhead in March skies for the Northern Hemisphere. Learn its stars and deep-sky objects.

Closeup of up 2 stars. Alcor, on the left, is smaller and yellowish, Mizar, on the right, is bigger and blue-white.

Mizar and Alcor in the bend of the Big Dipper

Mizar and Alcor are a famous pair of stars located at the bend of the handle of the Big Dipper. But what we see as 2 stars are really 6 stars!

Sky chart linking 2 stars in the Big Dipper to Polaris with an arrow, with 5 stars labeled.

Use the Big Dipper to find Polaris, the North Star

Do you know how to find the North Star? The 2 outer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris, the North Star. It's quick and easy!

Night sky scene with hexagon and figures of constellation superimposed over stars.

What’s a constellation? What’s an asterism?

Constellations and asterisms are patterns of stars. Some asterisms consist of stars from different constellations, and some are part of 1 constellation.

Castor – the twin star – is 6 stars in one

The bright blue-white star Castor, in the constellation Gemini, appears to our eyes as a single star. But it’s really a family of 6 stars.

A dot, Jupiter, is to the right of two smaller dots, the stars Castor and Pollux. It is also above another dot. They all lie above a horizontal wavy line, the horizon.

Meet Pollux: The brighter twin star of Gemini

Pollux, the brightest star in the constellation Gemini, blazes in a golden light next to its bluish-white heavenly twin, Castor.

Telescopic image of a large, more than half-lit moon with distinct craters and darker blotches.

What are the best targets for binoculars?

The best targets for binoculars in the night sky are the moon, planets, star clusters and nebulae. You can even catch the smudge of distant galaxies in them.

A large, bright, blue-white star in a field of many stars.

Blue-white Rigel is Orion’s brightest star

Blue-white Rigel shines as the brightest star in the constellation Orion the Hunter. It's a hot massive star, that someday will explode as a supernova.

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Ursa Major the Great Bear, home to the Big Dipper

M81 and M82 as never seen before

Visible planets and night sky guide for May

Which moon phase is best for stargazing? That depends.

Meteor shower guide 2026: Up next … the Arietids

See the best deep-sky photos of April 2026

Meteor showers are here! 10 easy tips for watching

Follow the arc to Arcturus, then speed on to Spica

See the best deep-sky photos of March 2026

The Big and Little Dipper: How to find them in spring

Coma Berenices: See how Leo the Lion lost his tail

What’s a galaxy? All you need to know about galaxies

Meet the constellation Lynx, overhead in March

Mizar and Alcor in the bend of the Big Dipper

Use the Big Dipper to find Polaris, the North Star

What’s a constellation? What’s an asterism?

Castor – the twin star – is 6 stars in one

Meet Pollux: The brighter twin star of Gemini

What are the best targets for binoculars?

Blue-white Rigel is Orion’s brightest star