How to find Ursa Major
Home of the Big Dipper — the northern sky's master signpost and the pointer to Polaris.
Hemisphere
Northern sky
Best seen
March–May
Brightest star
Alioth
Abbreviation
UMa
Alioth — the first star in the Dipper's handle.
Ursa Major contains the Big Dipper (the Plough in the UK), the most useful asterism in the northern sky. From mid-northern latitudes it never sets, so it's available on any clear night.
It rides highest on spring evenings, nearly overhead, which is when its fainter outlying stars are easiest to trace.
The Dipper is not the whole bear
The seven bright stars of the Big Dipper form only the hindquarters and tail of the Great Bear. The full constellation sprawls much wider with fainter stars, but the Dipper is what everyone learns first.
How to find it
- Look north for seven bright stars shaped like a saucepan or ladle
- From mid-northern latitudes it's up every clear night, swinging around Polaris
- Use the Pointer stars to find Polaris, and the handle's arc to find Arcturus
Deep-sky highlights
- Bode's Galaxy (M81) and the Cigar Galaxy (M82) — a bright galaxy pair
- The Pinwheel Galaxy (M101) — large but low surface brightness, needs dark skies
- Mizar and Alcor — the sky's most famous naked-eye double
Explore on Stella
Stella shows exactly when Ursa Major is highest from your location tonight — and whether the sky is worth it.
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