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Have You Seen the “Great Big Dipper?”
By John Goss
When people think of constellations, the Big Dipper often comes to mind. It surprises them that it is not an officially recognized constellation, but a grouping of stars known as an asterism. It lies within Ursa Major, a constellation. Essentially, an asterism can be any group of stars, bright or dim, greatly dispersed or tightly concentrated. It can be contained within a single constellation or it can spill over into two or more constellations.
Have some fun and fashion your own asterism. How about the Great Big Dipper? Look high in the south for the four stars of the Great Square (an asterism in its own right). Its northeastern star lies in southwestern Andromeda, while the other three are part of Pegasus. Beginning at the Square’s northeastern star, trace a gently curving line of four stars to the northeast, the first three in Andromeda and the end star in the constellation Perseus. All these stars are about the same brightness as those of the familiar Big Dipper.
Can you see the big dipper shape? Now, have some fun making your own asterisms!
