M81 is a nearly face-on spiral galaxy 11.8million light-years from Earth. Like most spiral galaxies, it has a core made up of old stars, with arms filled with young stars and nebulae. Along with M82, it is a part of the galaxy cluster closest to the Local Group.

The Parenthood star and “Hollywood actress” pops up in episode 7 to help Richie learn the color coded system that helps the front of house staff understand which diners have allergies, are celebrating a birthday, or eat unusually fast. Rene Gube Another way to find Cygnus is to look for an asterism called the Summer Triangle. This is a group of three quite bright stars that are roughly directly above an observer in the UK during summer. Leo and Leo Minor to the south. Lynx to the southwest and Camelopardalis to the northwest. From southern temperate latitudes, the Big Dipper is unable to be seen. However, some of the southern parts of the constellation can be seen. In European star charts, the constellation was visualized with the 'square' of the Big Dipper forming the bear's body and the chain of stars forming the Dipper's "handle" as a long tail. However, bears do not have long tails, and Jewish astronomers considered Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid instead to be three cubs following their mother, while the Native Americans saw them as three hunters. Planet 47 Uma d". The Extrasolar Planet Encyclopaedia. Paris Observatory. 11 July 2012. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012 . Retrieved 15 July 2012.The name is Latin meaning greater she-bear. Ursa Major is known as the greater (or larger) bear when compared to nearby Ursa Minor, also known as the lesser bear. a b c d e f g Wilkins, Jamie; Dunn, Robert (2006). 300 Astronomical Objects: A Visual Reference to the Universe (1sted.). Buffalo, New York: Firefly Books. ISBN 978-1-55407-175-3. The remaining stars are located in the bear’s hind legs. These stars are known as the Tania Borealis, Tania Australis, Alula Borealis, and Alula Australis.

Mallory, J.P.; Adams, D.Q. (August 2006). "Chapter 8.5: The Physical Landscape of the Proto-Indo-Europeans". Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World. Oxford, GBR: Oxford University Press. p.131. ISBN 9780199287918. OCLC 139999117. The most solidly 'reconstructed' Indo-European constellation is Ursa Major, which is designated as 'The Bear' (Chapter 9) in Greek and Sanskrit (Latin may be a borrowing here), although even the latter identification has been challenged. In the Finnish language, the asterism is sometimes called by its old Finnish name, Otava. The meaning of the name has been almost forgotten in Modern Finnish; it means a salmon weir. Ancient Finns believed the bear ( Ursus arctos) was lowered to earth in a golden basket off the Ursa Major, and when a bear was killed, its head was positioned on a tree to allow the bear's spirit to return to Ursa Major.Ursa Major is primarily known from the asterism of its main seven stars, which has been called the " Big Dipper", "the Wagon", "Charles's Wain", or "the Plough", among other names. In particular, the Big Dipper's stellar configuration mimics the shape of the " Little Dipper". Two of its stars, named Dubhe and Merak ( α Ursae Majoris and β Ursae Majoris), can be used as the navigational pointer towards the place of the current northern pole star, Polaris in Ursa Minor. This is easiest to find in the winter. Look for three bright stars in a line—these are Orion’s belt. See image to the left (credit: NASA). The Iroquois interpreted Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid as three hunters pursuing the Great Bear. According to one version of their myth, the first hunter (Alioth) is carrying a bow and arrow to strike down the bear. The second hunter (Mizar) carries a large pot – the star Alcor – on his shoulder in which to cook the bear while the third hunter (Alkaid) hauls a pile of firewood to light a fire beneath the pot. In Greek mythology, Zeus (the king of the gods, known as Jupiter in Roman mythology) lusts after a young woman named Callisto, a nymph of Artemis (known to the Romans as Diana). Zeus's jealous wife Hera ( Juno to the Romans) discovers that Callisto has a son named Arcas as the result of her rape by Zeus and transforms Callisto into a bear as a punishment. [39] Callisto, while in bear form, later encounters her son Arcas. Arcas almost spears the bear, but to avert the tragedy Zeus whisks them both into the sky, Callisto as Ursa Major and Arcas as the constellation Boötes. Ovid called Ursa Major the Parrhasian Bear, since Callisto came from Parrhasia in Arcadia, where the story is set. [40] Ancient Egyptians called Sirius “the Nile Star” because it always appeared in the sky right before summer began and the waters of the River Nile began to flood. In medieval Europe, people thought that a combination of light from the Sun and Sirius caused the hot and humid “dog days” ofsummer.