Featured Deep Sky Objects |
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This constellation is located very far from the Milky Way in our sky, and is therefore devoid of the rich open clusters and large diffuse nebulae that populate those areas. Although one "planetary" nebula of note is present (these stray farther from the galactic plane), Ursa Major derives its glory from two classes of objects: nearby stars and distant galaxies. The former are noteworthy as many of these are actually members of the nearest of all star clusters: the Ursa Major moving group, centered just 90 light years away. The core stars of the big dipper are all members (the beginning and end stars are not), and a number of other stars in Ursa Major are as well. The famed multiple star Mizar is a top-rate object, and there are several other stars well worth notice.
| M101 | M109 | NGC2841
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Far beyond the stars of Ursa Major, we can see into the
depths of intergalactic space, and we find numerous
galaxies to hunt with moderate telescopes if the skies
are dark. Most noteworthy of these are the face-on
spiral M101 (just north of the dipper's handle), and the
close pair of spiral M81 and strange, eruptive M82 (in
the far northwest part of Ursa Major).
