Ursa Major

• Ursa Major is known as ‘The Great Bear’ and as the ‘The Plough’ in the UK and as the ‘Big Dipper’ in the USA.
• It is one of the 48 Constellations listed by the Greco-Roman Astronomer Ptolemy in the second century CE.

Use in Celestial Navigation

• It is visible all year round in the Night Sky in the Northern Hemisphere, and is used to help find the Pole Star.
• Two of its stars point in a direct line to the Pole Star, which is at True North, helping sailors to navigate at night.