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cm0002 @lemmy.world

2w ago

Ancient Greeks 2500 years ago

39 comments

The Big Dipper is a very small part of the great bear.
- Also those other parts are a lot more visible when there's no light pollution like 2500 years ago.
  
  Those extra stars don't really make it more bear looking.

The bear name for those stars predates the ancient Greeks.
There's no known origin. It's present in languages of people that were separated at least 13000 years ago.
- some of our star stories go back 100k years. see: the Pleiades.
- This user knows how to star-party!

Obviously a bear
- The Medium Saucepan is my favorite constellation.

And I stand by that.
- Yes, it's the karlavagn (the Karl wagon/cart)
  
  the man wagon

- If you look at it without tons of light and air pollution, as the ancient Greeks would have, there are so many stars you can make a constellation look like anything you want.
- I still don't see a bear. Which way is it facing?
  
  To the right. Muscida is its nose.
  The tail is a bit long and it's missing an arm.
- Yup. While the bear with a tail is still kind of weird, Ursa major is one of the least weird constellations. "The Big Dipper" is an "asterism" according to the grad students at the planetarium I took my daughter to.
  
  Also it at least used to be identified as a medieval push hoe.
- bear lore from Björn

Norse people: it's a wagon! It's Odin's Wagon!
- Or that of Karl, whomever the fuck that is 🤷
  (It's called Karlsvognen here in Denmark, which means Karl's wagon)
  
  Same in Swedish, Karlavagnen ("the Karl wagon")
  But its definitely a wagon, like who would think it's a bear?

I don't know my northern hemisphere stars, having never seen any, but that looks exactly like what we call "the pot" down in the southern hemisphere.
Your point still stands, but your example couldn't be shooting yourself in the foot any harder

No, it's a bear's ass
- No, it's a bear's dih
- More like em-bear-assing yourself while deep in the Retsina..

That would be the rump and tail of the bear.

I've always seen it as a kite

39 comments