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Ursa Major

Ursa Major, Latin for 'Great Bear,' is a prominent constellation in the northern sky. It is the third-largest constellation and contains the Big Dipper asterism, which is often used as a navigational aid due to its proximity to Polaris, the North Star.

Source: science.nasa.gov

APODs including "Ursa Major"

Tails Of Comet LINEAR

27/07/2000

Tails Of Comet LINEAR
Image Credit: Jure Skvarc, Bojan Dintinjana, Herman Mikuz (Crni Vrh Observatory, Slovenia) / NASA APOD

Comet C/1999 S4 LINEAR is only one of many comets discovered with the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) telescope operating near Soccoro, New Mexico, USA. Traveling steadily southward through Earth's night sky, C/1999 S4 passed perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) yesterday on what is likely its first trip through the inner solar system. Now fading, comet LINEAR became no brighter than about 6th magnitude, but is still easily visible with binoculars in northern hemisphere skies. While the memorable comets Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake were much brighter, comet LINEAR is displaying delightful tails evident in this false-color composite image from the Crni Vrh Observatory in Slovenia. The combined series of exposures made on July 22nd are registered on the comet. In the resulting picture, stars appear as rows of dots, but the faint structures in the comet's tail are beautifully recorded. Presently seen moving from Ursa Major to Leo this comet LINEAR will begin to shine in southern hemisphere skies in August.