Big Dipper


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Big Dipper,

familiar configuration of stars visible in the constellation Ursa Major (see Ursa Major and Ursa MinorUrsa Major and Ursa Minor
[Lat.,=the great bear; the little bear], two conspicuous northern constellations. Known to many peoples from ancient times, these constellations have had various names; the configuration of the
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Big Dipperclick for a larger image
Big Dipper

Big Dipper

US name for the Plough.

Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006

Big Dipper

[¦big ′dip·ər]
(astronomy)
A group of stars that is part of the constellation Ursa Major. Also known as Charles' wain.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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References in periodicals archive ?
For small scopes or polluted skies, famous double stars abound in the Big Dipper, Virgo, Canes Venatici, and especially Bootes.
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The Big Dipper definitely is all about family and fun.
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You can't miss the Big Dipper, upside down and as high in the sky as it can ever get.
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When the Big Dipper was born in 1989, it was a small affair organized by several of the adoptive parents whose lives had been enhanced by their affiliation with Children's Friend, and who wanted to give back to its volunteers and employees.
Big Dipper ice cream fest an extra helping for charity
Down below the Big Dipper is the next layer, the Little Dipper, also horizontal.
Layers of constellations: two rows of bright constellations span April's western sky
AN AMERICAN rollercoaster enthusiast has set a new world record by riding on the Big Dipper for 2,000 hours.
Richard coasts to world record
The astronomers found the two new planets around sunlike stars-70 Virginis in the constellation Virgo and 47 Ursae Majoris in Ursa Major, also known as the Big Dipper. Although both stars are visible to the naked eye, the planets are too small, and thus too faint, to be seen against the glare from the parent bodies.
Two extrasolar planets may hold water
And, who doesn't look forward to the return of the Big Dipper every year?
Big Dipper a cool delight at Elm Park
THE Big Dipper ride which injured 21 people was closed hours earlier because of "problems", it emerged yesterday.
Dipper ride already had 'problems' ROLLERCOASTER
After a 25-light-year voyage to Vega, like that made by Ellie Arroway (played by Jodie Foster) in the 1997 movie Contact, such night-sky icons as the Big Dipper and the Sickle of Leo would be utterly unrecognizable.
Orion, the wimp
There are more twists than a big dipper and nothing is resolved until the end.
The Razz: Best rental INTOLERABLE CRUELTY HHHHI

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