Q&A for How to Find the Big Dipper

It depends on the time and season. But if you look at the two outer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper, and extend them by five times their own length then you will find the North Star, Polaris. Polaris is always on the North point.

A light year is the distance that light travels in a single year, which is about six trillion miles. Thus, if we were looking at a star that is six trillion miles away from us, we are actually looking at the way it was a year ago. The same is true with the stars of the Big Dipper. We are actually looking at stars as they looked years ago. For example, Dubhe, one of the stars in the Big Dipper, is 105 light-years from earth, so we are seeing it as it looked 105 years ago.

Several galaxies are found in Ursa Major, including the pair Messier 81 (one of the brightest galaxies in the sky) and Messier 82 above the bear's head, and Pinwheel Galaxy (M101), a spiral northeast of Ursae Majoris. The spiral galaxies Messier 108 and Messier 109 are also found in this constellation.

Yes, as long as you are not too far south of the equator. If you are, then you can't see it.

Yes, but in this day and age it's usually given in the metric system as 300,000,000 m/s.

It does, but it's a double star, barely visible to the naked eye (and not at all from some vantage points). Since only seven stars are visible at a glance, that's the number stargazers use to find it.

The Earth is rotating, and space is not.

Start by following the instructions in this article to find the Big Dipper. Go to the right to find the nose of Ursa Major, and go downward a bit to find the legs. Be careful, though - most of Ursa Major is quite dim (the Big Dipper is the pattern formed by the seven brightest stars).

No, you're too far to the south. In general, you have to be north of the equator to see the Big Dipper.

The Big Dipper is visible from Darwin and Townsville. The handle, at six degrees elevation, should be visible from Brisbane, depending on the weather.

It depends on where you are. The southernmost tip of India lies about eight degrees north of the equator, so the North Star should appear eight degrees above an unobstructed north horizon. The town of Nagercoil sits at an elevation of about 200 feet. Twenty-three miles to the north are mountains that rise about one mile above sea level. A little math determines that the mountain sits at an angle of about two and a half degrees. Again, no problem. Of course, if you're in the mountains, all bets are off. But if there is no fog or other obstructions, you're okay.

The star at the top-left of the pan (where the pan and the handle meet) has a ring of dust around it, but no planets.