Ursa Minor constellation
Latin Ursa Minor, genitive Ursae Minoris, abbreviation UMi
North up, east to the left, as you see the sky. The lines are a common figure; the stars are from the catalogue.
The myth
Arcas, Callisto's son, who nearly killed the bear while hunting; Zeus set him beside her. At the end of his tail stands Polaris, almost exactly above the Earth's North Pole: all other stars turn around it, it stays put. Its height above the horizon is your latitude, about 51 degrees in London.
When can Ursa Minor be seen?
It stands highest around 10 pm in June. It can be seen from everywhere north of 0°S, and it never sets north of 18°N.
The brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polaris | α UMi | 2.02 | yellow |
| Kochab | β UMi | 2.08 | reddish |
| Pherkad | γ UMi | 3.05 | white |
| Circitores | ε UMi | 4.23 | yellow |
| – | 5 UMi | 4.25 | reddish |
| Akfa Farkadain | ζ UMi | 4.32 | white |
| Yildun | δ UMi | 4.36 | white |
| – | 4 UMi | 4.82 | orange |
The smaller the number, the brighter: below 1 are the brightest stars of the sky, 4 is hard to see under a city sky. Greek letters after Johann Bayer (1603).
Meteors
The Ursids radiate from Ursa Minor: when they fall and how to see them.