The International Union of Astronomers officially recognizes the Big Dipper star pattern as part of a larger constellation called Ursa Major, or the “Great Bear.” The three stars at the end make sense as the dipper’s handle, but they seem strange as part of the Great Bear--they’re usually drawn as a really long tail. Some more modern drawings of the constellation show the Bear in a different pose, without a long tail.
Stories about the constellation offer a few explanations for the bear's long tail. In ancient Greek stories, where the name Ursa Major comes from, the Bear was originally a beautiful maiden named Kallisto. (In fact, the name Kallisto comes from the Greek word kallos, meaning “beauty”.)
Zeus, who was the king of the Greek gods, admired Kallisto’s beauty—which made his wife, Hera, angry. To get revenge, Hera turned Kallisto into a bear (although, this punishment hurt Kallisto much more than it bothered Zeus).
Kallisto wandered through the forests as a bear until one day she encountered her son, Arcas. Arcas was out hunting, and he didn’t recognize his mother; instead, he only saw a bear, and he pulled back his bow to shoot her. Kallisto ran away and Arcas chased her through the woods. Eventually, Kallisto ran to a village and crashed into a temple to Zeus. Arcas followed her inside, trapping her.
Before Arcas could unknowingly kill his mother, Zeus pulled her into the sky, where she would be safe from Arcas and other hunters. There, she became the constellation Ursa Major, and she wanders through the sky each night, following a trail around Polaris. In some versions of the story, it was said that Zeus pulled her by the tail, which stretched it.
Other stories explain the three trailing stars in different ways. Instead of the bear’s tail, some Native American tribes saw each star representing a hunter who chased the Great Bear through the sky.
In some Chinese and Middle Eastern stories, Ursa Major wasn’t seen as a bear at all, but a wagon instead. In these stories, the three stars represented horses or oxen pulling the wagon.
How would you explain the bear’s long tail? Can you think of a different story to explain the shape of the Great Bear constellation?
Zeus, who was the king of the Greek gods, admired Kallisto’s beauty—which made his wife, Hera, angry. To get revenge, Hera turned Kallisto into a bear (although, this punishment hurt Kallisto much more than it bothered Zeus).
Kallisto wandered through the forests as a bear until one day she encountered her son, Arcas. Arcas was out hunting, and he didn’t recognize his mother; instead, he only saw a bear, and he pulled back his bow to shoot her. Kallisto ran away and Arcas chased her through the woods. Eventually, Kallisto ran to a village and crashed into a temple to Zeus. Arcas followed her inside, trapping her.
Before Arcas could unknowingly kill his mother, Zeus pulled her into the sky, where she would be safe from Arcas and other hunters. There, she became the constellation Ursa Major, and she wanders through the sky each night, following a trail around Polaris. In some versions of the story, it was said that Zeus pulled her by the tail, which stretched it.
Other stories explain the three trailing stars in different ways. Instead of the bear’s tail, some Native American tribes saw each star representing a hunter who chased the Great Bear through the sky.
In some Chinese and Middle Eastern stories, Ursa Major wasn’t seen as a bear at all, but a wagon instead. In these stories, the three stars represented horses or oxen pulling the wagon.
How would you explain the bear’s long tail? Can you think of a different story to explain the shape of the Great Bear constellation?