Ursa Major arctos") was lowered to earth in a golden basket off the Ursa Major, and when a bear was killed, its head was positioned on a tree to allow the bear's spirit to return to Ursa Major. The Iroquois Native Americans interpreted Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid as three hunters pursuing the Great Bear. According to one version of their myth, the first hunter (Alioth) is carrying a bow and arrow to strike down the bear. The second hunter (Mizar) carries a large pot – the star Alcor – on his shoulder in which to cook the bear while the third hunter
Ursa Major II Dwarf II consists mainly of old stars formed at least 10 billion years ago. The metallicity of these old stars is also very low at , which means that they contain 300 times less heavy elements than the Sun. The stars of Uma II were probably among the first stars to form in the Universe. Currently there is no star formation in Uma II. The measurements have so far failed to detect any neutral hydrogen in it—the upper limit is only 562 solar masses. Ursa Major II Dwarf Ursa Major II Dwarf (UMa II dSph) is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy situated