Most people have never seen the Little Dipper, because most of its stars are too dim to be seen through light-polluted skies.

From top to bottom, Crux measures just 6 degrees — only a little taller than the distance between the Pointer stars of the Big Dipper. In fact, the Southern Cross is the smallest ...

Dubhe and Merak, the "pointer stars" in the bowl of the Big Dipper (they point to Polaris, the North Star) are separated by just over five degrees.

The Big Dipper also graces a state flag in the United States. We can thank a 13-year-old boy, John Bell "Benny" Benson, with the celestial design that now adorns the Alaska state flag.

The Big Dipper, of course, is at its highest every 24 hours, as the Earth spins. This time of year, mid-spring, it is high up around 8 to 9 p.m. The Dipper shape is oriented so it appears upside ...

For example, every scout knows how to use the Big Dipper to find the North Star (aka Polaris) and, from that, their directions around the horizon. ... These are known as the “pointer stars.” ...

Using the Big Dipper, you can observe another type of moon illusion: Look at Dubhe and Merak, the so-called "Pointer Stars" at the end of the Dipper's bowl, and try to imagine 11 full moons lined ...

Photo Credit: Noel Corboni – Canon EOS-20-d and 17-40 zoom lens at f/4 piggybocked on 10” LX200 GPS UHTC – 15x30 second ISO 1600 exposures. The Big Dipper is probably the most recognizable ...

Not only does the Big Dipper make a pretty good clock, using it to tell time is a fun way to understand how stars move in the sky. $2 for 6 months SUBSCRIBE NOW Read Today's Paper Tuesday, June 10 ...

This sky map shows how the Big Dipper appears in the summer sky at 10 pm to observers mid-northern latitudes in June 2012. If you step outside and look skyward as soon as darkness falls on these ...

The Big Dipper is not a constellation in itself, ... These two stars — Dubhe and Merak — are known as the Pointers, because they always point to Polaris. To find the North Star, ...