Ursa Major/Big Dipper as an evening riser.

Event Date: January 3rd

Time: 7:00 AM

Brief

   Do you remember how the Big Dipper dominated the northern sky last spring and summer evenings?  Since the asterism is circumpolar as seen from many northern latitudes, we ha(d/ve) lots of time to see it during the winter nights that have past, and still ahead of us.  The Dipper's "cup" stars are above the horizon and easy to see a few hours after nightfall.  How much of the handle do we see about an hour afterwards, still depends on any obstruction along the horizon.  Here is the Dipper now, seemingly (balancing) on its handle's end.

Detailed

Tomorrow I will label stars; today, only showing the stick figure, as a reminder of how much space (sky) the Dipper takes up.  Remember that its parent constellation, Ursa Major, takes up even more of the sky with its body, legs and--to a lesser degree--its feet.  As shown below, I will display the entire constellation, with the Dipper representing the back-body (rump?) and long tail.  If you forgot the reasoning for the stretched-out tail, as also the case for Ursa Minor (the Little Bear, not shown for this entry), read this as a reminder: 

    Also shown in the second image, is the celestial grid, indicating that Ursa Major is not only big; it moves slowly through the northern part of the sky, tracing out a small circle daily over 23 hours, 56 minutes: one sidereal day.

click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

Looking above, the Dipper is slightly highlighted in brighter blue, to stand out from the rest of the constellation, made up of stars not as easy to see.  It is a result of that, that the constellation of Ursa Major, albeit big, does not get the same attention as its famous asterism of easier-to-see-stars, giving it a distinguishable shape.