Ursa Major moving group

The Ursa Major Moving Group], also known as Collinder 285 and the Ursa Major association, is a group of stars that move together through space. These stars travel at similar speeds and in the same direction, which means they likely came from the same place a long time ago. The stars in this group formed about 300 million years ago.

The main part of the Ursa Major Moving Group is about 80 light years from us, inside an area of space called the Local Bubble. This group is special because it includes many bright stars, especially most of the stars that make up the famous Big Dipper pattern in the night sky.

Because these stars are close to Earth and easy to see, the Ursa Major Moving Group helps scientists learn about how stars form and move. By studying these stars, researchers can discover more about the history of our part of the galaxy and how new stars are created.

Discovery and constituents

The stars in the Ursa Major Moving Group travel through space in nearly the same direction at similar speeds. They also share similar chemical makeup and age. This tells astronomers they likely came from the same place long ago.

This group of stars was discovered in 1869 by Richard A. Proctor. He noticed that most stars in the Big Dipper—all except Dubhe and Alkaid—all move toward the same spot in the sky. This shows they are related. The Ursa Major Moving Group may have started as an open cluster. It formed from a cloud of gas about 500 million years ago. Today, its center lies about 80 light-years from Earth. This makes it the closest group of stars like a cluster to our planet.

Some well-known stars in this group include Alpha Coronae Borealis, Beta Aurigae, Delta Aquarii, Gamma Leporis, and Beta Serpentis.

Proper motions visualised