How do Australians call the Ursa Major constellation ?

[Gem (Grant)]

Generally nicknames are reserved for constellations we view easily... Ursa Major is not easily visible from most of Australia... so no extra names from me!

[Wavytone]

When I saw it on a clear cold night at Shangri-La, "the big dipper". Even my wife recognised it as such.

If I'd said "big bear" she would have replied "what ?".

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Slap bang overhead here, when the clouds part for long enough to see

Will miss it when I move, but the galaxies up there are so faint

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

We Scandinavians call it 'Karlsvognen' which actually means the Man's Wagon (Karl is not a name but is the old word for farmhand).
In addition, the Little Dipper was in old times correspondingly known as the Women's Wagon, but that name is not used anymore, we call it the Little Bear.

[FJA (Faith)]

Originally Posted by Blue Skies

Ah, yes. I believe you have a point there. Perhaps you should include the Welsh in there, as I have run into an ornery Welshman as well, to my misfortune...I'm still confused as to whether its Britain, Great Britain, England or the UK, nothing I tried to use seemed to make him happy.

Best say Britain. Then everyone (well, nearly everyone) is happy. Non-Brits, don't whatever you do, conflate 'England' with the United Kingdom or Britain as a whole. That annoys everyone, including the English

I call the asterism the Dipper, influenced by doing a lot of observing in the US.

[Jon (Jonathan)]

Originally Posted by Camelopardalis

Slap bang overhead here, when the clouds part for long enough to see

Will miss it when I move, but the galaxies up there are so faint

Ah, Dunk, get yourself down here to the land of the galaxies in Centaurus and Fornax. You have to wear sunglasses at the eyepiece or you risk getting dazzled by the light ;-)

[Jon (Jonathan)]

Interesting thread. I'm continuing my obsession with globular clusters by attempting to image M13 in Hercules sometime around now. I got a very brown snapshot of it the other night at 7 degrees altitude, but it gets to a decent height around 1 am nowadays - about 18 degrees maximum altitude.

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Originally Posted by Jon

Ah, Dunk, get yourself down here to the land of the galaxies in Centaurus and Fornax. You have to wear sunglasses at the eyepiece or you risk getting dazzled by the light ;-)

Sounds a fair trade will my sunglasses work down there? Not sure they know what bright sun/star light is

[Gem (Grant)]

Originally Posted by Jon

Ah, Dunk, get yourself down here to the land of the galaxies in Centaurus and Fornax. You have to wear sunglasses at the eyepiece or you risk getting dazzled by the light ;-)

I don't think we can boast too much on the galaxy front... M31 is pretty good.
Clusters and nebulae - we have the best though.

[multiweb (Marc)]

'grande ourse' et 'petite ourse'

[Irish stargazer (John)]

Feeling homesick after reading all these posts. I do miss The Plough overhead and the ability to go observing without being eaten alive by mozzies. I don't miss the constant rain and the rare nights that one actually gets to see the Plough.

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Originally Posted by Irish stargazer

Feeling homesick after reading all these posts. I do miss The Plough overhead and the ability to go observing without being eaten alive by mozzies. I don't miss the constant rain and the rare nights that one actually gets to see the Plough.

All cloud and rain up here recently, haven't been out with the scope for weeks

What's the deal with the mozzies? Nobody warned me about them...I'll be eaten alive

[Jon (Jonathan)]

Originally Posted by Camelopardalis

All cloud and rain up here recently, haven't been out with the scope for weeks

What's the deal with the mozzies? Nobody warned me about them...I'll be eaten alive

Best tip with the mozzies is to think about the funnel webs, tiger snakes, stonefish, blue-ringed octopus, brown snakes, box jellyfish, great white sharks, and saltwater crocodiles.

You'll find you are not so concerned about being eaten by the mozzies after that.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by Camelopardalis

All cloud and rain up here recently, haven't been out with the scope for weeks

What's the deal with the mozzies? Nobody warned me about them...I'll be eaten alive

Aeroguard is the answer. They like fresh blood.

[Barrykgerdes]

Originally Posted by multiweb

'grande ourse' et 'petite ourse'

oui oui (?)

non

ur(s)ine (?)

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by Barrykgerdes

oui oui (?)

non

ur(s)ine (?)

WOT?

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Originally Posted by Jon

Best tip with the mozzies is to think about the funnel webs, tiger snakes, stonefish, blue-ringed octopus, brown snakes, box jellyfish, great white sharks, and saltwater crocodiles.

You'll find you are not so concerned about being eaten by the mozzies after that.

I only wish you were joking, but my fears are being well and truly pampered hearing about all those

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by Barrykgerdes

oui oui (?)

non

ur(s)ine (?)

You've been doing too many cross words monsieur Barry.

[Barrykgerdes]

Originally Posted by multiweb

You've been doing too many cross words monsieur Barry.

oui oui
mon ami Marc

some of my school yard french

Barry