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Space

Already know the Big Dipper? There's more to this group of stars

Most of us can spot the group of stars known as the Plough or the Big Dipper. But there’s more to explore here, says Abigail Beall

By Abigail Beall

14 May 2025

“Most people can recognise the Plough…”

VCG/VCG via Getty Images

Some of my earliest stargazing memories involve the same seven stars. Whether you call it the Plough or the Big Dipper – or even the saucepan, the panhandle or the wagon – the stars that form this asterism are ones I think many people learn to recognise from an early age. But just because most people can recognise the Plough, and, by extension, Ursa Major, the constellation in which it lies, doesn’t mean we have explored everything in this patch of the sky. And May is as good a time…

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