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

Use the nearby bright stars to locate the gold box, then move to the larger chart for the pattern itself.

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

Observing and imaging

Naked eye

Start with the unaided eye. Suburban skies usually show the main stars.

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 a 26° field around Ursa Minor to include the pattern and its nearby stars.

Tonight from your latitude

Set your location and date to see a useful window, peak altitude, sky visibility, and Moon conditions. Use Month to compare the season ahead.

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

Naked-eye visibility by sky class

Bortle class rates night-sky brightness. The atlas counts a pattern as recognisable when at least 70% of its defining stars are visible.

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

Moon impact

For 50°N in the best month, green dates mark at least two hours with the pattern above 20° and the Moon below the horizon.

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 recorded in older star-name literature.

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.