 Ursa Major A long time ago, Zeus fell in love with a mortal woman named Callisto, who was a far-traveler and a huntress. In jealousy Hera, the wife of Zeus, changed Callisto into a large bear. In a forest one day, Callisto's son Arcas chanced upon a huge bear. To his horror, the bear immediately started to run straight toward him. Not perceiving that the bear was his mother, Arcas raised his javelin to slay the bear. Zeus saw the tragedy that was about to happen, but not even Zeus could undo the spell of Hera. The only alternative was to change Arcas into a bear like Callisto, only smaller. To keep them safely together, and to make them immortal, Zeus grabbed both bears by their tails, swung them around and around, and hurled them into the sky. So much swinging stretched out their tails. Yet Hera had the last word, moving them to the part of the sky which never sets. There Callisto and Arcas now endure a weariness without rest until the end of the world.
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Ursa Major, or the Great Bear is the third of 88 constellations by area.
As this story states, it can be seen all year (northern hemisphere), meaning
it is and has been a well known and easily recognisable constellation. Ursa
Major is included in the ancient star catalogs of Eudoxos of Knidos, Aratos
of Soli, and Ptolemy, in addition it is also mentioned in the Bible as
"The Bear". Seven of the stars that form the bear's hindquarters and tail are
known as the Big Dipper, an asterism or arbitrary sub section of the
constellation. This part of the constellation is perhaps better known than
the constellation it self. If you locate the Big Dipper it is very easy to
locate Polaris (The North Star), a star used to navigate the seas for millennia.
