BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Mizar and Alcor – Horse and Rider

The Big Dipper is part of the constellation Ursa Major. It's probably the best known item in the night sky after the Moon. More people could pick out its seven stars than could locate the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades. But are there only seven stars in the Big Dipper? What about the Horse and Rider?

Mizar and Alcor – Horse and Rider

There was another *first* for Mizar and Alcor that I didn't mention in the article. The first photograph of a double star was of this pair. It was taken at Harvard observatory in 1857 by G.P. Bond, J.A. Whipple & J.W. Black.

First photos of a double star

I'm not sure when it happened, but it seems that if you aren't signed up to Pinterest, you can no longer see the images in my articles. Apologies for this, but it's going to take quite some while to remedy.

Meanwhile I have set up new links for the two images in the Mizar and Alcor article. Those should now be visible to everyone.

And here they are, as well: Big Dipper, with
Zeta Ursae Majoris, the second star from the end of the handle. It's the famous double star Mizar and Alcor. (Credit: Jerry Lodriguss)

With the parallax technique astronomers observe object at opposite ends of Earth’s orbit around the Sun to precisely measure its distance. (CREDIT: Alexandra Angelich, NRAO/AUI/NSF)

Thanks so much Mona, your pictures are great. Phooey (as Nero Wolfe would say)to Pin Interest.

Cheers