where is the little dipper in the sky?
92669
The North star is in the tail of the little dipper (or Ursa Minor) so if you just find the North star you are already looking at the little dipper.
32938
the big dipper is always pretty much in the north, but ir revolves around the north star as the year progresses, and as each night progresses. About now, if you looked north at about 10 PM, it is a bit east of the north star
465729
Two possibilities not previously mentioned: first, phone your various friends around the world, and ask them the time! You will then find out that the sun is at a different height in the sky at different places. So at least the world is not flat, since the sun is very much farther out than the distances between any two points on earth.\n\nSecond, wait for a lunar eclipse. This is the Earth's shadow projected on the moon. It is round. The Earth is not a disk (see first experiment) but casts a round shadow: a sphere seems indicated. In fact, it is a sliughtly flattened sphere (ellipsoid, in fancy language)
68201
hmmm........... its not on earth!
521846
Astronomy is................ looking up !
949120
All you need is eyes and a clear sky. I saw one about an hour ago, but that was after an hour of looking. There should be more later tonight, especially after 11:00 or 12:00. Look anywhere in the sky.
426218
Polaris is the North Star and is located in the handle of what we know is Ursa Minor or little dipper. It is found by locating the two stars at the end of the bowl of the big dipper and starting at the bottom of the bowl and going upward about 5 times the distance and you will see it. It is a faint star compared to most others but once found is always noticable. With a simple string and protractor you can find your latitude. Just meadure the distace from flat horizon to the pole star, that will be the same as your latitude.  If you take a still picture of the polar region, you will see star trails. (because the stars seem to rotate above us) If your camera is set to the north celestial pole, even Polaris will form a circle.  It was a true pole star in 1950ish. But due to precession and earth wobble it seems to be changing.
196052
Look for North Star !!
874513
If you are in the Northern Hemisphere and it is clear out you can use the big dipper to find the North Star (off the outside of the "cup").  If you are in the southern Hemisphere I believe you can use the Southern Cross similarly (points north south).\n\nIf it is near sunrise or sunset and you know roughly what lattitude you are at and what season it is you can get a rought idea of East or West and therefore North and South (for instance if you face West, north is to your right).\n\nObviously if you have GPS or a compass that makes all this much easier (assuming your compass is lit ;) ).\n\nIf it is very clear out you can probably see the Milky Way, and the galactic plane runs roughly North South.\n\nIf you are familar with the night sky and know what time of year it is you could get a rough idea of your lattitude and maybe longitude, and, even if you can't find the North Star or Southern Cross you could find planets and the orbital plane or a familar constallation and figure out the directions.\n\nRealistically if I didn't know where I was I would either go towards light if there was a bright part of the sky (city) or find a creek and fallow it since even if it is dried up, it is likely that it will lead you to a settled area or road and hopefully would have more shade from bushes and more food and water.
328290
are you retarded? the earth is a miniscule speck in the universe, and the sky happens to be part of that universe..... really, this isn't even worthy enough to answer.
942069
Anywhere that is dark and has an unobstructed view of the eastern sky.  Look toward the constellation Leo.
650511
None, they up in the Sky, best seen at night. The Earth does revolve around a Big Star that can actually be seen in the day and not night. Make for a good Word Play/Riddle question. ;-D
35715
Check http://www.wunderground.com/sky/index.asp
448237
It really depends on where you are.  For northernly latitudes, Ursa Major (big dipper), Ursa Minor (little dipper), and Cassiopeia are generally visible on any night of the year.
58283
After looking through countless references I can only give you a vague answer to your question. Orion was named by the ancient Greeks; according to their mythology he was a giant hunter and one of the few male friends of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Depending on what version of the story you hear, Orion gets killed by a giant scorpion (Scorpius). Artemis mourns his death and places him in the sky to commemorate him. \n\nThe origins of the names "Big Dipper" and "Little Dipper" are even more difficult to come by. The Big Dipper seems to just be the common name for the asterism because that's what it looks like. The Big Dipper has been called everything from "the Plow", to "the Weasel" to "the Drinking Gourd" and of course is also part of the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear) again from Greek Mythology. \n\nI can only guess that Ursa Minor, (the Little Bear) was named the Little Dipper because it too kind of looks like one, but also because the two patterns of stars are associated with each other from Greek Mythology. So when the Great Bear was called "the Big Dipper" it just made sense to call the Little Bear the "Little Dipper". But really Tom, your guess is as good as mine. \n\nCheck out http://www.csulb.edu/~gordon/constel.html for a list of origin stories for other constellations and asterisms.
861854
"A patch of the sky, lying roughly between the pointer stars of the Big Dipper (centered at R.A. 10h 45m, Dec. +58° 00'), with an area of 15 square degrees, that is almost free from absorption by neutral hydrogen gas in the Galaxy. Having the minimum column density of galactic hydrogen, it allows the most sensitive searches for extragalactic objects and, for this reason, is one of the best studied sky areas across a very wide range of wavelengths, from radio waves to gamma rays.''  - \n\nhttp://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/L/Lockman_Hole.html
885602
If you mean visible to the unaided eye and defining the dippers, seven each.  In the Little Dipper you have Polaris and Kochab, the others are not particularly bright and have no names, just catalog numbers.\nIn the Big Dipper, one could argue that there are eight visible stars, as the middle star in the handle, Mizar, has another star, Alcor, right next to it.  The two stars at the end of the bowl of the Big Dipper, Merak and Dubhe, point straight to Polaris.