David White Jr., age 10, of Nogales, Ariz., for his question:

ARE THE BIG DIPPER AND THE BIG BEAR THE SAME CONSTELLATION?

Today we call that conspicuous constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere the Big Dipper but it was know to the ancient Greeks as the Big Bear. The Romans called it Ursa Major, which means the Great Bear.

The seven brightest stars of the constellation form the easily identified outline of a giant dipper. In Europe the pattern is known as the Plow, Charles' (Charlemagne's) Wain and the Wagon. Among the Hindus it represents the seven rishis, or holy ancient sages.

Of the seven stars constituting the Big Dipper, six are of the second magnitude and one is of the third magnitude. Two of the second magnitude stars, Alpha and Beta Ursa Major, which form the outer edge of the bowl, point directly to the North Star, or Polaris, and hence are called the Pointers.

At the bend of the handle of the Big Dipper is the readily visible double star known as Mizar, or Zeta Ursa Major. Mizar, the first visual double star discovered, consists of two components having magnitudes of 2.4 and 4 respectively.