Big Bear

Many people recognize the constellation Ursa Major -- the Greater Bear. It contains the famous star pattern known as the Big Dipper. An astronomer talks about the origin of the bear myth -- coming up next on Earth and Sky.April 8 -- on one of the oldest constellations. JB: The famous Big Dipper star pattern is part of the constellation Ursa Major -- the Great Bear. From anywhere in the northern hemisphere, you can see it high in the north on April evenings. Much of our sky lore here in the U.S. originally came from Europe. It came from European settlers who traveled across the Atlantic.DB: But ethnographers have established that about half of the indigenous cultures in North America also knew the pattern we call Ursa Major as a bear. Brad Schaefer is an expert on the history of astronomy at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He tracked down evidence from ethnographers -- including diary records -- as well as historical texts -- on the subject of the bear in Ursa Major. He believes the idea of a bear came originally not from across the Atlantic . . .Brad Schaefer: One can be pretty confident that the Big Bear myth in North America came from Siberia with the first immigrants about 10,000 B.C., roughly the time of the last ice age. And so, that necessarily then forces you to the conclusion that the myth of the Big Bear is at least 12,000 or so years old, and perhaps much older.JB: We have sky charts showing the Bear -- and the familiar Big Dipper pattern -- at earthsky.org. I'm Joel Block.DB: And I'm Deborah Byrd for Earth and Sky.