Ursa Major best-known patterns in the sky. Like many of its common names allude to, its shape is said to resemble either a ladle, an agricultural plough or wagon; in the context of Ursa Major, they are commonly drawn to represent the hindquarters and tail of the Great Bear. Starting with the "ladle" portion of the dipper and extending clockwise (eastward in the sky) through the handle, these stars are the following: Except for Dubhe and Alkaid, the stars of the Big Dipper all have proper motions heading toward a common point in Sagittarius. A few other such stars have been identified,
Ursa Major Draco to the north and northeast, Boötes to the east, Canes Venatici to the east and southeast, Coma Berenices to the southeast, Leo and Leo Minor to the south, Lynx to the southwest and Camelopardalis to the northwest. The three-letter constellation abbreviation 'UMa' was adopted by the IAU in 1922. The "Big Dipper" (a term mainly used in the United States and Canada; "Plough" and (historically) "Charles' Wain" are often used in the United Kingdom) is an asterism within Ursa Major composed of seven bright stars (six of them of second magnitude or higher) that together comprise one of the