| Ursa Major is a huge constellation. Look toward the north and you'll see the big dipper. This is the body and tail of the great bear. Most of the stars of the dipper actually came from the same cluster and are racing past Earth. They are close enough, and were born long enough ago to be spread all over the place like they are. Mizar/Alcor If you look at the handle of the dipper, find the kink in it. If you look close enough and hard enough, you'll be able to see two stars very close to each other. The two stars aren't related, they are just in the same line of sight to Earth. When this happens, they are called visual binaries. |
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