Ursa Major: The Big Bear

Though almost everyone can recognize the Big Dipper in the night sky, many concieve it as a constellation, which is is not. What some people don't know is that the Big Dipper is actually a astroism of the constellation Ursa Major, or The Big Bear.

Ursa Major is paired closely to the constellation Ursa Minor. In Greek mythology, it is said that Ursa Major was once a woman named Callisto, and Ursa Minor was her son, Arcas. In the myth, Zeus admired Callisto and his wife, Hera, was convinced that when Callisto gave birth to her son, that this must also be the son of Zeus. Because of this, Hera became enraged and turned Callisto into a bear, so that she would no longer be the beauty she once was. Arcas was adopted and raised to be a hunter. Some time later, Arcas was hunting in the woods when Callisto saw him and immediately recognized him and, her heart filled with joy, she started for him. Arcas saw this as an attack, and shot an arrow at the bear. Zeus saw this and stopped the arrow before it could hit Callisto. In order to prevent them both from further damages, he turned Arcas into a bear, took both by their tails, and tossed them into the heavens, where they became stars. The Greeks believe that this is the reason for the elongated tails of both bears.