Image used under Creative Commons license from Flickr user joiseyshowaa.
“Remember Dad, the handle of the Big Dipper points to the North Star.” – Lisa Simpson
“That’s nice, Lisa, but we’re not in astronomy class, we’re in the woods.” – Homer Simpson
Note: It’s actually the handle of the Little Dipper, but such things were a lot harder to look up in 1989.
It’s actually the furthest two stars on the right-most part of the big dipper’s cup. They point towards the end of the little dipper’s handle.
Yeah, Polaris is the last star in Ursa Minor. For some reason I was intent on keeping my note short to the point that I actually made it less clear than it should have been. Whoops.
Not only would it be less easy to look up, but pretty much impossible to discuss like we are doing now (although, i guess there were BBSs at the time)