The Chinese called this star "Heaven's Pivot." It is located five degrees from β and ten degrees from δ Ursæ Majoris, and about twenty-eight degrees from Polaris, the Pole Star. These measures are useful to bear in mind in estimating celestial distances.
α and β Ursæ Majoris have been called "the Pointers," "the Keepers," and "the Two Stars." Dubhe is the only star in the Dipper that is of the solar type. It is approaching our system at the rate of twelve miles a second, and has an 11th magnitude companion discovered by Burnham in 1889.
β Ursæ Majoris was known to the Arabs as "Merak," meaning the "loin." The Chinese called it "an armillary sphere," and the Hindus regarded it as "Pulaha," one of the Rishis. It is of the Sirian type, a spectroscopic double, and is approaching the earth at the rate of eighteen miles a second.
γ Ursæ Majoris, also called "Pheeda" or "Phad," meaning the "Thigh," is approaching our system at the rate of sixteen miles a second.
δ is known as "Megrez," meaning the "Root of the Tail." It is the faintest of the seven stars in the Dipper. The position of Megrez and the star Caph, β Cassiopeiæ, is peculiar. These stars are both in the equinoctial colure, one of the great circles passing through the poles, and are almost exactly opposite each other, and equally distant from the Pole. Megrez is on the meridian at 9 p.m., May 10th.
These four stars forming the bowl of the Dipper were called by the Arabs "the coach of the children of the litter." They form the hind quarters of the Bear, the frame of the Bier, the Plough, and the Wain.
ε Ursæ Majoris bears the name "Alioth." According to Gore, this is a corruption of an Arabic word meaning "the Gulf." Alioth is approaching us at the rate of nineteen miles a second, and very nearly marks the place of the radiant point of the Ursid meteor shower of Nov. 30th. It is a spectroscopic binary.
