Ursa Major is the name of a constellation comprising stars from the head and forelegs of Ursa Major; "pucwan" (ပုဇွန်) is a general term for a crustacean, such as prawn, shrimp, crab, lobster, etc. In Roman mythology, Jupiter (the king of the gods) lusts after a young woman named Callisto, a nymph of Diana. Juno, Jupiter's jealous wife, discovers that Callisto has a son named Arcas, and believes it is by Jupiter. Juno then transforms the beautiful Callisto into a bear so she no longer attracts Jupiter. Callisto, while in bear form, later encounters her son Arcas. Arcas almost shoots the bear,
Ursa Minor H1504+65, the hottest white dwarf yet discovered, with a surface temperature of 200,000 K. In the Babylonian star catalogues, Ursa Minor was known as the "Wagon of Heaven" (, also associated with the goddess Damkina). It is listed in the MUL.APIN catalogue, compiled around 1000 BC among the "Stars of Enlil"—that is, the northern sky. According to Diogenes Laertius, citing Callimachus, Thales of Miletus "measured the stars of the Wagon by which the Phoenicians sail". Diogenes identifies these as the constellation of Ursa Minor, which for its reported use by the Phoenicians for navigation at sea were also named "Phoinikē".