In the Netherlands we call this “the big bear”, which is an even more bullshit name, if you ask me.
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twinnie@feddit.uk 2 months ago
Why do Americans call this the Big Dipper? What even is a dipper?
abbadon420@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
But at least “big bear” is consistent. That’s literally what Ursa Major means, and that the name it had basically for 2000 years now.
The reason it doesn’t remotely look like a bear is because this is just the ass and tail. The whole thing looks like this: …wikimedia.org/…/1280px-Ursa_Major_IAU.svg.png
blindsight@beehaw.org 2 months ago
It looks more like a ladle (“dipper”) than a bear (“Ursa major”) to me. Always made more sense to me.
It’s a stretch to say a pair of quadrilaterals with sticks look like a bear family, imho.
fossilesque@mander.xyz 2 months ago
A old timey ladle with a flat bottom.
Neurologist@mander.xyz 2 months ago
It’s the cooking pot looking part of Ursa Major
Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Otava master race
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 months ago
You put it in a septic tank to get the poop out
nelly_man@lemmy.world 2 months ago
A dipper is like a large ladle and is used more for transferring a large amount of liquid rather than serving. Oftentimes, the end will be more squared off with a flat bottom.
To me, these two constellations look very much like dippers and it’s difficult to see them as bears.
twinnie@feddit.uk 2 months ago
I’m from the UK, we call it The Plough.
nelly_man@lemmy.world 2 months ago
That makes sense. I can definitely see that. Do you have a different name for Ursa Minor? We call it the Little Dipper here, but I’m assuming that’s not the case on your side of the pond.