Star Tales – Ursa Major 2

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Two stars in the bowl of the Dipper called Dubhe and Merak (Alpha and Beta Ursae Majoris) are popularly termed the Pointers because a line drawn through them points to the north celestial pole. Dubhe’s name comes from the Arabic al-dubb, ‘the bear’, while Merak comes from the Arabic word al-maraqq meaning ‘the flank’ or ‘groin’. At the tip of the bear’s tail lies Eta Ursae Majoris, known both as Alkaid, from the Arabic al-qa’id meaning ‘the leader’, or as Benetnasch, from the Arabic banat na’sh meaning ‘daughters of the bier’ – for the Arabs regarded this figure not as a bear but as a bier or coffin. They saw the tail of the bear as a line of mourners (the ‘daughters’) leading the coffin.

Second in line along the tail is the wide double star Zeta Ursae Majoris. The two members of the double, visible separately with keen eyesight, are called Mizar and Alcor. They were depicted as a horse and its rider on the 1524 star chart of Peter Apian, apparently following a popular German tradition. The name Mizar is a corruption of the Arabic al-maraqq, the same origin as the name Merak. Its companion, Alcor, gets its name from a corruption of the Arabic al-jaun, meaning ‘the black horse or bull’. This is the same origin as the name Alioth which is applied to the next star along the tail, Epsilon Ursae Majoris. The name the Arabs used for Alcor was al-suha, meaning the neglected or the overlooked. ‘By this star, the eyesight can be tested’, according to Ibn al-Sufi’s poem based on his father’s Book of the Fixed Stars.

Delta Ursae Majoris is named Megrez, from the Arabic meaning ‘root of the tail’. Gamma Ursae Majoris is called Phad or Phecda, from the Arabic word meaning ‘the thigh’.

In addition to the famous seven stars of the Plough or Dipper there are three pairs of stars that mark the feet of the bear. The Arabs imagined these as forming the tracks of a leaping gazelle. The pair Nu and Xi Ursae Majoris (marking the right hind paw according to Ptolemy) are called Alula Borealis and Alula Australis. The word Alula comes from an Arabic phrase meaning ‘first leap’; the distinctions ‘northern’ (Borealis) and ‘southern’ (Australis) are added in Latin. The second leap is represented by Lambda and Mu Ursae Majoris, known as Tania Borealis and Tania Australis; these stars were described by Ptolemy as being in the left hind paw. The third leap (and the front left paw) is represented by Iota and Kappa Ursae Majoris, although Iota alone bears the name Talitha, from the Arabic meaning ‘third’.

Chinese astronomers knew the shape of the Plough as Beidou, the Northern Dipper (the Southern Dipper was in Sagittarius). It was also seen as the chariot of the Emperor, controlling the sky as it revolves around the pole. Beidou is one of the few Chinese constellations that is readily recognizable to western eyes. Each of the seven stars had its own name: Alpha (Dubhe) was Tianshu, ‘celestial pivot’ (not to be confused with the Tianshu in Camelopardalis which was the pole star of its time); Beta (Merak) was Tianxuan, ‘celestial rotating jade’; Gamma (Phad) was Tianji, ‘celestial shining pearl’; Delta (Megrez) was Tianquan, ‘celestial balance’; Epsilon (Alioth) was Yuheng, ‘jade sighting-tube’; Zeta (Mizar) was Kaiyang, ‘opener of heat’ (i.e. a regulator of the seasons); and Eta (Alkaid) was Yaoguang, ‘twinkling brilliance’ (also translated as ‘glittering light’). An eighth star, Fu, was regarded as the Emperor’s assistant or the prime minister; authorities differ as to whether this is Alcor, the companion to Mizar, or another faint star farther away.

A ring of six faint stars near Merak including 36 and 44 UMa was known as Tianlao, a prison for noblemen (the prison for commoners was in Corona Borealis), although some maps place this group south of Psi UMa. Tianli, the judge responsible for imprisoning the noblemen, was represented by four faint stars including 66 UMa within the bowl of the Dipper.

Six stars in the forelegs and head of the bear formed an arc called Wenchang, the administrative centre, representing six officers or departments of the celestial government. Sources differ as to exactly which six stars were involved, but Upsilon, Phi, Theta and 15 UMa were among them.

There are various other faint Chinese constellations in this area which are difficult to identify with any certainty. To the north of Wenchang was Sanshi (formerly known as Sangong), a trio of stars representing three tutors. Neijie, ‘inner steps’, was a group of six stars representing steps between Wenchang and the polar region of the sky. The Chinese referred to the area around the celestial pole as the Purple Palace or Central Palace. The star 24 Ursae Majoris formed part of one of the walls enclosing this circumpolar region; the complete wall extended from Draco to Camelopardalis (for more on the Central Palace, see Ursa Minor).

South of the bowl of the Dipper were two named single stars. One was called Taiyangshou, ‘guard of the Sun’, usually identified as Chi Ursae Majoris, while Psi Ursae Majoris was Taizun, representing royal relatives or ancestors. In southern Ursa Major, the three pairs of stars that the Arabs visualized as the tracks of a leaping gazelle were known in China as Santai, ‘three steps’, either leading to the administrative centre Wenchang, or steps that allowed the Emperor to travel between Earth and sky – literally, three steps to Heaven.

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