How to find North at night

How to find North at night? First find the most commonly recognized configurations of stars on the northern sky: the Big Dipper. Then…    Image © Jerry Lodriguss (Catching the Light)

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Connecting two stars in the far part of the Big Dipper will lead one to Polaris, the North Star, which is part of the Little Dipper.

Big Dipper, the North Star and Little Dipper

The Big Dipper is not by itself a constellation. Although part of the constellation of the Great Bear (Ursa Major), the Big Dipper is an asterism that has been known by different names to different societies.

Big Dipper

Big Dipper star map

Image © wikipedia

source APOD