69 "... the Big Dipper constellation" "Within Ursa Major the stars of the Big Dipper have Bayer designations in consecutive Greek alphabetical order from the bowl to the handle. Proper Name Bayer Designation Apparent Magnitude Distance (L Yrs) Dubhe α UMa 1.8 Merak UMa 2.4 79 Phecda γ UMa 2.4 84 Megrez δ UMa 3.3 Alioth UMa 1.8 Mizar UMa 2.1 Alkaid UMa 1.9 Near Mizar is a star called Alcorr and together they are informally known as the Horse and Rider. At magnitude 4.1, Alcor would normally be relatively easy to see with the unaided eye, but its proximity to Mizar renders it more difficult to resolve, and it has served as a traditional test of sight. In the 17th century, Mizar itself was discovered to be a binary star system — the first telescopic binary found. The component stars are known as Mizar A and Mizar B. In 1889, Mizar A was discovered to in fact be a binary as well, the first spectroscopic binary discovered, and with the subsequent discovery that Mizar B itself is also a binary, in total Mizar currently is known to beat least a quadruple star system" -- Reference Wikipedia.org back to 69)
