Ursa Minor

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/ursa-minor

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the constellation designation?Ursa Minor (UMi)
2. What is the brightest star?Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris), apparent magnitude 2.0
3. What is Ursa Minor and why is it called the Little Bear?Ursa Minor is a small constellation in the northern sky. It is called the Little Bear and its stars form the Little Dipper.
4. Why is Polaris called the North Star?Polaris sits almost directly above Earth's North Pole. Because of that, it hardly moves in the sky and is used as the North Star.

Asterism: A recognizable pattern of stars that is not a constellation, such as the Little Dipper.
North Celestial Pole: The projection of Earth's North Pole onto the celestial sphere, around which stars appear to rotate.
Cepheid Variable: A type of star whose brightness pulsates in a predictable way, used for measuring cosmic distances.
Axial Precession: The slow, conical wobble of Earth's rotational axis over a period of roughly 26,000 years.