URSA MAJOR

The Big Dipper, the famous and prominent part of Ursa Major, the Greater Bear, is seen through the open shutter of the 90-inch telescope of the University of Arizona atop Kitt Peak, the silhouette of the telescope's framework seen against the sky. Dubhe and Merak, the "Pointers," point down and to the right to Polaris in Ursa Minor. Mizar (Zeta Ursae Majoris) is easily separated from its companion Alcor (Flamsteed 80). The central five stars of the Dipper, plus Alcor and several other stars, consititute a physical group, the Ursa Major Cluster.