SKYWATCH: spot what looks like a large ladle of stars low in the sky

At this time of the year the Big Dipper, or The Plough or whatever you know it as, is perfectly placed to find and enjoy because it looks just like a huge spoon of stars above the northern horizon. Even if you don't know which direction you can find it simply by looking around the sky until you spot what looks like a large ladle of stars low in the sky, with a curved handle on the left and a shallow bowl on the right.

Many people think the Big Dipper is a constellation, but it isn't; it is just a striking pattern of stars (what astronomers call an asterism) inside the constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear. So where's the bear? Well, it's there, and it's visible from the dark skies of the countryside, but thanks to the modern scourge of light pollution - the glare produced by streetlights, security floodlights and the exterior lighting of sports centres and supermarkets that turns our night sky a muddy orange or blank white - most people can't see the faint stars that make up the bear's head and legs. All we are left with are the Great Bear's tail, forming the curved handle of the Dipper, and its hindquarters, forming the Dipper's bowl.

We use the Big Dipper to find the most important star in the sky - Polaris, the Pole Star. Many people think that Polaris is the brightest star in the sky but although it is easily visible to the naked eye it's actually only the 46th brightest star in the sky. It's only important because it lies roughly above the north pole of the Earth, and all the other stars appear to move around it as the Earth spins. The best way to find Polaris is to use the two stars farthest away from the end of the Big Dipper's handle as pointers. Draw a line between them, extend it upwards (at this time of year, at least) and it will point you straight to Polaris. No surprise then that this pair of stars is nicknamed The Pointers.