Ursa Minor

Little Dipper

Little Bear dipper

skylore / traditional name · medium confidence

A fainter dipper wrapped around the north celestial pole. Polaris and Kochab are easy; the middle stars are a useful naked-eye transparency test from Alberta suburbs.

Central RA: 16^h 23^m 29.2^s
Central Dec: +79° 37′ 57″
Brightest member: V 2.02
Best months from 50°N: Year-round from 50°N; best when highest above the pole
Suggested instrument: naked-eye
Approx. span: 18.9°

Finder context

This wider chart is deliberately schematic: it uses nearby bright-star context and boxes the asterism’s member-star footprint, but it does not draw official constellation boundaries or promise horizon/season precision.

Framing: Approximate member-star span: 18.9°; use at least 26.4° field for context.

Observing and imaging

Naked eye

Primary naked-eye pattern; suburban skies should show the main stars unless the description notes a low horizon or dark-sky need.

Binoculars

Binoculars are optional: use them to check colours, nearby doubles, or richer Milky Way background.

Small scope

A telescope is usually too narrow for the whole shape; use it after the pattern has guided you to a target.

Imaging

Frame as a wide-field scene in/near Ursa Minor; a field of view around 26° keeps context without claiming exact constellation boundaries.

Tonight from your latitude

Observability from your latitude: uses this asterism’s centroid RA/Dec with a schematic local clock from longitude, astronomical twilight (Sun below −18°), and the 2026 Moon heuristic. Month stays for the seasonal readout.

Latitude 50°NLongitude -114°Date Month Sky darkness Bortle 4 · limit V 6.1

Naked-eye visibility by sky class

Approximate limiting magnitudes: Bortle 3 ≈ V 6.6, Bortle 5 ≈ V 5.6, Bortle 7 ≈ V 4.6. The shape is counted recognisable when at least 70% of defining stars clear the limit.

Bortle 3: 7/7 stars — fully visibleBortle 5: 7/7 stars — fully visibleBortle 7: 6/7 stars — partial

Moon impact

Reference year 2026, Jul: 31/31 nights (100%) have a sampled ≥2 h window with Little Dipper above 20° and the Moon below the horizon. At transit the Moon is up on about 48% of nights; the average moonlight penalty is roughly 0.29 mag of naked-eye limiting magnitude. Good nights below are the deterministic 2026 best-month mini-calendar for 50°N; green means a ≥2 h sampled dark window with the Moon down.

01020304050607080910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031

Member stars

Name	Bayer / Flamsteed	HR	RA J2000	Dec J2000	V mag
Polaris	1Alp UMi	HR 424	02^h 31^m 48.7^s	+89° 15′ 51″	2.02
Kochab	7Bet UMi	HR 5563	14^h 50^m 42.3^s	+74° 09′ 20″	2.08
Pherkad	13Gam UMi	HR 5735	15^h 20^m 43.7^s	+71° 50′ 02″	3.05
22Eps UMi	22Eps UMi	HR 6322	16^h 45^m 58.1^s	+82° 02′ 14″	4.23
16Zet UMi	16Zet UMi	HR 5903	15^h 44^m 03.5^s	+77° 47′ 40″	4.32
23Del UMi	23Del UMi	HR 6789	17^h 32^m 12.9^s	+86° 35′ 11″	4.36
21Eta UMi	21Eta UMi	HR 6116	16^h 17^m 30.3^s	+75° 45′ 19″	4.95

Source and confidence

skylore / traditional name; medium confidence. Traditional or folk name carried through older public-domain star-name literature; the plotted stars are still BSC5 positions.

Citations

Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed.: Hoffleit, D. & Warren, W.H. Jr. (1991). Positions, V magnitudes, Bayer/Flamsteed identifiers. source
Star Names and Their Meanings: Allen, R.H. (1899). Public-domain skylore and traditional names.
The Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues: ESA SP-1200 (1997). Used as the modern astrometric reference named by the atlas; the MVP pages expose BSC5 J2000 fields for the plotted bright-star members.