How to find the Big Dipper
When to look
March, April, May, June evenings
Face north, high up
Seven stars in a ladle. The two at the end of the bowl point to the North Star. All year, in the north. High up on spring evenings, low near the ground on autumn evenings. The drawing below is made from the real positions of its 7 stars, as the sky looks when you face it, with bigger dots for brighter stars. No telescope needed.
The Big Dipper looks like a big spoon made of seven stars. It's in the north. Two of its stars point to the North Star.
The Big Dipper isn't a whole constellation: it's the brightest part of one called Ursa Major. From most of the US it never sets, it just circles the North Star, high in spring and low in autumn evenings.
Five of the Dipper's seven stars travel through space together, a loose group astronomers call a moving cluster, about 80 light-years away. Mizar, in the handle, has a fainter companion, Alcor, that sharp eyes can split.
The stars in it
Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar, Alkaid. The brightest is Dubhe.
How to find it
- Go out after dark with a grown-up, and give your eyes ten minutes away from screens.
- Face north, high up and look for: seven stars in a ladle. The two at the end of the bowl point to the North Star.
- Hold up this page's drawing or the printed card and match the shape to the sky. If the sky is clear.
More star patterns
“Star patterns turn through the night, so the shape may be tipped on its side. Turn your head, not the sky.”