Probably every adult remembers a wonderful lullaby from the old Soviet cartoon about Umka. It was she who first showed the constellation Ursa Major to small viewers. Thanks to this cartoon, many people became interested in astronomy, they wanted to find out more about this strangely named collection of bright planets.
The constellation Ursa Major is an asterism of the northern hemisphere of the sky, which has a huge number of names that have come down to us from antiquity: Elk, Plow, Seven Wise Men, Wagon and others. This collection of bright celestial bodies is the third largest galaxy in the entire sky. The most interesting thing is that some parts of the "bucket", which is part of the constellation Ursa Major, are visible all year round.
It is precisely because of its characteristic disposition and brightness that this galaxy is well recognizable. The constellation consists of seven stars that have Arabic names but Greek designations.
Stars in the constellation Ursa Major
| Designation | Name | Interpretation |
| α | Dubhae | Bear |
| β | Merak | Loin |
| γ | Fekda | Thigh |
| δ | Megrec | Beginning of tail |
| ε | Aliot | Origin of name unknown |
| ζ | Mizar | Loincloth |
| η | Benetnash (Alqaeed) | Leader of the Wailers |
There are a huge variety of theories about the origin of the constellation Ursa Major.
The first legend is connected with Eden. A long time ago, the nymph Callisto lived in the world - the daughter of Lycaon and the assistant of the goddess Artemis. Her beauty was legendary. Even Zeus himself could not resist her charms. The union of a god and a nymph led to the birth of a son, Arkas. Enraged, Hera turned Callisto into a bear. During one of the hunts, Arkas almost killed his mother, but Zeus saved her in time, sending her to heaven. He also moved his son there, turning him into the constellation Ursa Minor.
The second legend is connected directly with Zeus. According to legend, the ancient Greek titan Kronos destroyed each of his heirs, for it was predicted to him that one of them would overthrow him from the throne. However, Rhea is a motherZeus - decided to save the life of her child and hid him in the cave of Ida, located on the modern island of Crete. It was in this cave that he was fed by the goat Am althea and two nymphs, who, according to legend, were bears. Their names were Helis and Melissa. Having overthrown his father and the rest of the titans, Zeus gave his brothers - Hades and Poseidon - the underground and water kingdoms, respectively. In gratitude for the feeding and care, Zeus immortalized the she-bear and the goat by raising them to heaven. Am althea became a star in the constellation Auriga. And Helis and Melissa are now two pleiades - Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.
The myths of the Mongolian peoples identify this asterism with the mystical number "seven". They have long called the constellation Ursa Major sometimes the Seven Elders, the Seven Wise Men, the Seven Blacksmiths and the Seven Gods.
There is a Tibetan legend about the appearance of this galaxy of bright stars. The belief says that once upon a time a man with a cow's head lived in the steppes. In the fight against evil (in the legend it appears as a black bull), he stood up for the white bull (good). For this, the witch punished the man by slaying him with an iron weapon. On impact, it broke into 7 pieces. The good white bull, appreciating the contribution of man in the fight against evil, lifted him up to heaven. And so the constellation Ursa Major appeared, in which there are seven bright stars.
