Are The Following Constellations Easy To Observe From NOrthern Hemisphere With Naked Eye?

Question

Ursa Minor

Polaris

Yildun

Kocab

Anwar al Farkadain (Eta)

Alifa al Farkadain (Zeta)

Pherkad (Gamma)

Ursa Major

Phad (Gamma)

Megrez (Delta)

Alioth (Epsilon)

Mizar (Zeta)

Alkaid (Eta)

And Cassiopeia

It is for Astronomy GCse and if you have any other helpful suggestions i would be grateful

Answer 1

For Ursa Minor, only the star Polaris is "easy."  The two stars Yildun (delta) and Pherkad (gamma) aren't too hard to see under decent conditions.  They are the end stars of the "dipper" part.  For all the others, you need good conditions and usually have to use averted vision.

The Ursa Major stars you mention are the five stars of the big dipper that are not the two "pointers" at the end of the dipper. They are all easy to see.  Megrez (delta) is the least prominent of these.  It's the one that joins the handle to the dipper.  All of these constellations are visible for at least part of the year, anywhere in the northern hemisphere.  Down near the equator Polaris is hard to see because it is always so close to the horizon.

Cassiopeia has five stars (or six) which are prominent.  They form a kind of "W" shape.  Cassiopeia is opposite Polaris from the Big Dipper.

Edit: Hmmm, three thumbs down.  I wonder what I said wrong.  If I screwed up, could one of the thumbers explain?  I hate to post incorrect information, but after checking again, darned if I can find what's wrong.  I'll delete this if there's any error.

Answer 2

and Mizar is an easy double (the other star is Alcor ?)

Answer 3

Ursa Minor, Ursa Major, and Cassiopeia are all easily observable constellations from mid-northern latitudes and above.  The other names are stars in each constellation, and they are easily observable as well under good conditions.

Answer 4

The ones you list can be seen all the year in London. In the winter Orion is good with many bright stats

Answer 5

anywhere north of about 40 degrees north they are all circumpolar.

Answer 6

Why Do You feel The Need To Capitalise Every Word In Your Question?

Anyway, all of the stars mentioned in your question are easy to see in the northern hemisphere except perhaps near the equator where they would be close to the horizon and partially obscured by the atmosphere.

Does This Help?

Answer 7

Yes. They are all high latitude constellations.

Answer 8

um i dont know about proper names or anything but i know you can see "The Plough" and "Orion's Belt"