Somebody who already knows the precise way in which the constellation Ursa Major outlines a bear might be like “of course!” But someone who’s simply told “these points are supposed to form a bear” is unlikely to end up conceiving of this:
Um. Do bears have tails?
From googling, it looks like some of them do, but they don’t have tails like that.
Have bears changed since ancient times? Or are these just the charismatic bears, which all happen to have short tails? [Another google image search suggests it’s not that one.] Is “bear” a mistranslation of something like “raccoon”?
I notice that I’m confused. Were the ancients just dumb? Why would they allocate three whole stars to the bear tail, if bears only have small nub tails.
On one hand wikipedia suggests Jewish astronomers saw the three tail stars as cubs. But at the same time, it suggests several ancient civilizations independently saw Ursa Major as a bear. Also confused.
I think the answer simply is that constellations are never perfect fits to the thing they are imagined to represent. And further, the people picked things important to them to attach rather than the most accurate.
Here are two alternate interpretations. One with the weird tail stars not included as the outline of the bear, but just ‘associated’ with the bear (e.g. cub interpretation). The other with the bear facing the opposite way such that the tail is now the head. This makes the legs match less well though.
Um. Do bears have tails?
From googling, it looks like some of them do, but they don’t have tails like that.
Have bears changed since ancient times? Or are these just the charismatic bears, which all happen to have short tails? [Another google image search suggests it’s not that one.] Is “bear” a mistranslation of something like “raccoon”?
I notice that I’m confused. Were the ancients just dumb? Why would they allocate three whole stars to the bear tail, if bears only have small nub tails.
On one hand wikipedia suggests Jewish astronomers saw the three tail stars as cubs. But at the same time, it suggests several ancient civilizations independently saw Ursa Major as a bear. Also confused.
Without the outline, the stars look really skinny. To my eye, it looks much more like an anteater.
I think the answer simply is that constellations are never perfect fits to the thing they are imagined to represent. And further, the people picked things important to them to attach rather than the most accurate.
Here are two alternate interpretations. One with the weird tail stars not included as the outline of the bear, but just ‘associated’ with the bear (e.g. cub interpretation). The other with the bear facing the opposite way such that the tail is now the head. This makes the legs match less well though.