Ursa Major do not have long tails, and Jewish astronomers considered Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid instead to be three cubs following their mother, while the Native Americans saw them as three hunters. Noted children's book author H. A. Rey, in his 1952 book "The Stars: A New Way to See Them," () had a different asterism in mind for Ursa Major, that instead had the "bear" image of the constellation oriented with Alkaid as the tip of the bear's nose, and the "handle" of the Big Dipper part of the constellation forming the outline of the top of the bear's head and
Ursa Major Moving Group group appear to have a common age of about 500 million years. The core of the moving group consists of 14 stars, of which 13 are in the Ursa Major constellation and the other is in the neighboring constellation of Canes Venatici. The following are members of the moving group closest to its center. These stars are all in Ursa Major except where indicated. There is also a "stream" of stars which are likely members of the Ursa Major Moving Group, scattered more widely across the sky (from Cepheus to Triangulum Australe). The bright, nearby star Sirius was long believed